


Hurricane

by spacedadvader



Series: the Silence Trilogy [2]
Category: Danger Days: The True Lives of the Fabulous Killjoys (Album)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Canonical Character Death, Character Death, Desert, Enemies to Friends, Frenemies, Friendship, Gangs, Gen, Gun Violence, Guns, Hurt/Comfort, No Romance, No Smut, Original Character Death(s), Original Character(s), Past Character Death, Post-Canon, Rebellion, Rebels, Sequel, Sibling Love, Undercover, Undercover Missions, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-04-07
Packaged: 2019-12-18 12:01:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 34
Words: 40,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18249434
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spacedadvader/pseuds/spacedadvader
Summary: The year is 2021, two years after the deaths of the Killjoy gang known as the Fabulous Four.Silent Storm, Sunset Flash, and Atomic Alien are still fighting against Better Living Industries and the sameness it pushes onto the citizens of Battery City. However, after two years of only minor rescue missions and dents in BLI's empire, the Killjoys are getting restless. Extremists begin to emerge and launch a new wave of rebellion founded on murder and shedding innocent blood.The three of them struggle to keep up with everything that is happening, as well as trying to help out a new gang called the Ultra Vs, led by Val Velocity, who are gaining popularity.Will they manage to keep everything together in the midst of this pandemonium?Or will they crack under the pressure?





	1. Prologue

Better Living Industries. The corporation that rules the country through fear and manipulation. Sounds like hell, doesn't it? Well, it was, especially for three kids in Battery City.

These kids weren't unique in any way, really. They were human, with emotions, normal abilities, mothers and fathers...

But they'd never known their parents. They'd never even seen them.

See, they were taken from their parents at a very young age by Better Living Industries. The company performed experiments on the kids, trying to genetically engineer them into weapons for their use. They had actually all been born in 2018, but BLI had tested an aging acceleration prototype on them, which meant that they had each aged eighteen years over the course of three. Obviously, being the idealist company BLI was, it also attempted to eliminate all individuality from them. Fortunately for the kids, it failed.

They didn't even have names. They were referred to by their subject number. Their "names" were VA1, VA2, and VA3. But of course, they referred to each other as One, Two, and Three.

Of them, there was one girl (Two) and two boys (One and Three). They were all best friends, but they had to keep it to themselves, because BLI was very anti-emotion.

They were regularly tested for their skills and abilities. The tests usually consisted of them being unconscious and put into a simulation. The goal of the sims was to test their skills, yes, but it was also to test their loyalty to BLI. They were definitely not loyal to BLI in any way, but they pretended to be, because if they weren't, they would be tortured as punishment. One usually took leadership over the group during tests.

So yeah, these kids' lives sucked. But they dealt with it, because it was all they'd ever known.

That is, until the Killjoys came for them.

It went like this: the three of them had just finished their last test of the day and had been sent to their rooms (they were more like cells, really, except for the fact that the walls were transparent) for the night. This part was particularly boring until they fell asleep. However, this time, something weird happened.

Some Scarecrows showed up. Now, this was generally very rare after they'd been sent back here, but they had to just go with it.

When a Scarecrow entered One's room, he just smiled. "Hello sir," he said, just like he was always told to. "What brings you here?"

The Scarecrow didn't respond for a moment. Then, he did something that shocked One. He took his mask off.

What One saw was someone who was definitely not a Scarecrow.

This guy was a Killjoy.

The three subjects had been taught that Killjoys were terrorists, that their ultimate goal was to eliminate peace from the world. Obviously, they knew that wasn't true, but they said it anyway, because they knew what would happen if they didn't.

The Killjoy shook his (bright blue) hair out and addressed One. "Sorry kid, but I'm not a 'Crow. I'm here to get you out of here."

One took a second to process this. This could very easily be a sim, but it didn't feel like one, and he didn't remember being put under. However, he didn't want to risk it. "Is this a simulation?" he asked the Killjoy hesitantly.

He just laughed. "Actually, it's not."

"Really?" One considered his options. "So you're really here to rescue us?"

"Why else would I be here, kid?" the Killjoy laughed. "But you're gonna have to hurry out if you wanna come with us."

One jumped up without hesitation. Something about the Killjoys' use of art and music and color had always drawn him in, and now he had the opportunity to be a part of it.

The two other subjects were already outside and standing with two other Killjoys in disguise.

"Storm," one of the Killjoys said to the blue-haired one. "I've got a map of a shortcut out of here with a lot less complications."

"Good," the blue-haired Killjoy replied. "Alright, let's move." He pulled the Scarecrow mask back on and gestured for the group to follow him.

They traveled through several hallways, then climbed down a hidden ladder into a tunnel. The tunnel had metal tracks along the ground.

"What is this place?" Two asked nervously.

"It's a subway tunnel," the third Killjoy told her. This one was soft-spoken and calm.

"Oh yeah," Two remembered. "We had these in a sim once, right?"

"Hey," Three spoke up, "Who are you guys?"

"Do you know what a Killjoy is?" the second Killjoy asked. Three nodded in affirmation. "Well, we're Killjoys."

"My name's Silent Storm, but just call me Storm," the blue-haired one told them.

"I'm Night Hunter," the second one said.

"Dr. Benzedrine," the calm one added. "Uh, do you guys have names?"

"Nope," One told him. "We do have numbers, though. I'm One, she's Two, and he's Three."

"We've got to get you better names," Storm said. "You're called Unit V, right? VA1, VA2, and VA3?"

"Yeah," One replied.

Storm thought for a moment. "VA1... I'm gonna call you Val. Okay?"

"Val," One tested out the name. "Sounds cool."

"Hey," Benzedrine commented, "You could be called the Ultra Vs! You know, like Ultra Violet radiation, Ultra V?"

"What are some other words that start with V?" Storm asked.

"Violence?" Hunter said, then trailed off. The Killjoys were silent.

"Okay, moving on," Storm said. "Uh, velocity, volume..."

"I like Velocity," One piped up again. "Val Velocity!"

"Volt," Two added. "I like that one. I saw it on a label on one of the tracks."

"I guess I like Volume," Three said, shrugging.

"Good!" Storm smiled. "You're all set. Al will love this."

They continued walking through the tunnels until they reached a station. They climbed the stairs onto a street and walked for a bit longer, until they reached the city wall. There was a minivan parked in front of it. They all squeezed in, and they drove to a spot where the wall had been broken through. From there, they entered the Zones.


	2. 01.

People escaping Battery City on their own is really rare. BLI is very successful at keeping people inside their walls, and most of the people in the city are too brainwashed to try and get out. However, the Killjoy army often needs new recruits, so they get them out themselves. The main way that new Killjoys get out is through patrols.

A patrol works like this: an informant in the Lobby would get into Better Living Industries' records and send a list of possible recruits (people who have disobeyed BLI) to the Killjoy General, Atomic Alien. General Alien would then send a group of existing Killjoys to sneak into one of BLI's "reformation centers" (which was just code for "place where we brainwash people into not having any emotions or free will") and rescue all of the people on the list. They would then take the recruits into the Zones and integrate them into the Killjoy society.

Now, our story begins with one particular patrol in the summer of 2021. A Juviehall (a rebel who lives in the old subway tunnels under the city) named Dustin had found a firewall blocking him from hacking into one specific part of BLI's main laboratory. So of course, he tried for hours to bypass it. And eventually, he succeeded. What he found was, well, revolutionary. He sent the data to General Alien.  _This is gonna be good._

When Alien got the transmission from the city, she was nothing less than ecstatic. She called in her best group of patrollers and gave them a copy of the file. The group consisted of Silent Storm, who was to be the leader, Night Hunter, a hacker, and Dr. Benzedrine, a medic.

The first thing that Storm said when he saw this was "Holy shit."

The file was about an experiment that BLI were performing. Apparently, three children had been taken from their parents, and BLI had tested an age-acceleration prototype on them. The file said that they had all been born in 2018, and that they had aged seventeen years by the current year, 2021.

It was clear that the company was intending to make these kids into weapons for their benefit. But if the Killjoys could take that away from them... Storm gladly accepted the mission; he would do anything to disadvantage BLI. It had taken so much from him.

Benzedrine was a bit doubtful of the mission. He'd been on many a patrol, but never one of this scale of importance. He went along with everything, however, because he knew a medic would be necessary for the mission if they ran into any trouble.

Hunter didn't really have an opinion on the matter. However, he was a hacker, and he knew that his skill was critical to getting into the building. He was also loyal to Alien, at any cost.

And so they set off.

Getting into BLI's lab was relatively easy; they knocked out some high-level Scarecrows, stole their uniforms and IDs, and waltzed right in. The hard part came next.

They had no idea how these kids would react to someone breaking in. This was a rescue mission, but they didn't know that. BLI was all they'd ever known. The file did say that "Subject VA1" disobeyed them, which gave them a sliver of hope.

Storm dutifully led the group to the location that Alien had told them to go to. The Scarecrows' IDs didn't work on the doors that led to their quarters, so Hunter had to mess with the coding so it would let them in. Fortunately, he was successful.

Getting them out was fairly easy. They had all thought that they were inside a simulation, which kind of made sense, but they had gone willingly anyways. They had never taken BLI's zombifying medication due to the fact that it might "slow their development" so they were able to realize that BLI was actually really bad.

And they were tortured regularly when their test results weren't good, so there's that.

Anyway, they didn't run into any complications on the way out, which was good. The "subjects" also received their Killjoy names: Val Velocity, Volume, and Volt. Usually, Killjoy aliases had two words, but some things had changed in the two years since...  _Let's not think about that right now._

Anyway, they rode in General Alien's minivan out into Zone One, and the recruits' faces were  _priceless._

Val looked shocked, but a grin was slowly beginning to take over his face. Obviously, none of them had ever seen any of the world outside BLI's lab in person, so he was ecstatic.

Volt seemed to be fascinated with the sun. She commented on how the light from it was heating up her skin, and how that never happened with artificial lights.

Volume seemed to be more attentive to the car than the view outside. He bombarded Hunter with questions about how it worked. He only really knew how to work computers, but he was the only one in the car who was able to give Volume basic information. He eventually prodded Storm to turn on the radio to shut the recruit up so he could focus on driving.

Storm complied and switched on the radio.

_"-motorbabies, this is Dr. Death Defying, comin' at you from 109 WKIL, your Eye in the Sky!"_

Dr. D then graced them all with the song _Bang Bang_ by Green Day. The three recruits had never heard music before in their lives. They all looked incredibly confused at the sound at first, but they soon warmed up to it and began to dance along to the beat.

_These kids are in for one hell of a ride,_ Storm thought, laughing to himself. He and his sister Sunset Flash has gone through the same ordeal, but they had already lived in a non-BLI infested world for a while. These kids had never seen anything other than the inside of that godforsaken lab.

Storm looked forward to teaching the kids the basics, though. They were about Sunset's age (in BLI years); maybe they'd get along with her.

He knew Alien would go crazy with the idea. She would be a great teacher for them, as she had been with him, but usually, new Killjoys were taught by the people that had patrolled for them. And she had her usual General duties to deal with.

In the file about the "subjects", Volt was described as having amazing motor skills and ability to work under pressure, which all sounded like serious medic material.

The bad part of that was the fact that she also reminded Storm a lot of his friend Violent Vendetta.

He definitely did not want to think about any of what had happened that week, so he just tuned in to the music on the radio and the conversation between Volt and Benzedrine about the sun.


	3. 02.

The Nest was an abandoned nuclear bomb shelter in the middle of Zone Four. Its existence was yet unbeknownst to BLI, which made it a great spot for the Killjoy General to hang out. General Alien thought of the old bunker as her home, which it was.

The army had taken a huge blow after the Four died, and a lot of them had moved into the Nest for comfort. It was a hub of activity for nomads and merchants, and a home for a lot of groups. Alien had vowed to have it open for anyone who needed a place to stay, and she kept her word.

When Storm and the rest of the group arrived at the Nest and climbed down the long ladder into its main room, Sunset Flash came running towards them. She enveloped her brother in a hug, which he gladly reciprocated.

"Hey Sunset," he greeted her. "We got the new kids out!"

"Really?" She grinned at him. "Are they here?" She looked behind Storm, and saw that the answer to her question was indeed a yes.

What she saw were two of her friends, and three people that she didn't know who looked about her age. There was a boy with bright blue eyes, a girl who was really tall, and a boy with really frizzy hair that stuck up in all directions. They looked like a perfectly normal group of kids except for the fact that they all had white hair. Literally, their hair was pure white. Sunset suspected that this was BLI's doing, and she was right.

She walked up to the boy with blue eyes and held out her hand. "Hi, I'm Sunset! What's your name?"

The boy froze for a moment. He looked at her hand, then back at her. "My name's Val," he said tentatively. "What are you doing with your hand?"

_Oh yeah,_  Sunset realized,  _he has no idea._ "It's a handshake," she told him, sounding a bit harsher than she meant to. "When a person holds out their hand to you, you take their hand and move it up and down a bit."

He hesitantly lifted his hand to take hers. She grabbed his hand and shook it up and down a few times.

"Um," he attempted, letting go of her hand. "It's nice to meet you, Sunset. Is that your, uh, Killjoy name?"

"Yeah," she informed him. "The full thing is Sunset Flash, but most people just call me Sunset. Is Val your real name?"

"No," he said quietly. "I never had a name. It came from my subject number, VA1. My whole Killjoy name is Val Velocity."

Val was extremely overwhelmed. He had never seen this many people in one place; he'd never even seen this many people in general! Sure, he was still running on pure adrenaline from his escape, but apparently, he had anxiety.  _Great._

"I'm not sure if we have any beds left," Sunset interrupted his thoughts, "but I'll see if I can find you one. The quarters are downstairs." She took his hand again and began to lead him through the crowd to the stairwell.

Meanwhile, Volume was loving the attention. A bunch of people came to introduce themselves, and he loved seeing the surprise on their faces when he told them that he was raised in a lab.

And Volt was still talking with Benzedrine. They were really getting along. He explained to her what it was like being a medic, and she instantly fell in love with the idea. He promised he would teach her everything he knew. They both knew they were going to be best friends.

"Hey, you're back!"

The room went silent as heads turned to the back of the room, where a girl with a long braid of purple hair was standing.

"Why'd y'all go quiet? Keep talking, I'm not stopping you!" She began making her way through the people until she reached the newcomers. "Hello, I'm Atomic Alien, but you can just call me Alien for now," she told them.

"She's also the general of the entire army," Storm added jokingly, "but she always forgets to mention that."

Alien stuck up her middle finger at him. "Anyways, if you have any questions, just come to me. These three..." she moved to gesture to the three Killjoys who had brought them in, but she trailed off as she noticed that something was missing. "Wasn't there three kids on that list?"

"Val already ran off with Sunset," Hunter told her. "She taught him how to shake hands, it was pretty awkward."

"Oh, okay," she sighed in relief. "Anyways, what are you guys' names?"

"I'm Volume," said Volume, "And that's Volt." He gestured to Volt, who was still engaged in conversation with Benzedrine.

"One-worders, I see," Alien commented. "Did you say the other guy's name was Val? Does he have an alias yet?"

"That is his alias," Hunter answered. "Val Velocity."

"Ah, alright," she smiled. "That's actually pretty cool. Anyways, I'm gonna let these guys take care of you from here on out. Over and out!" She two-finger saluted the group, and the Killjoy veterans responded by formally saluting her.

Suddenly, Volt seemed to appear behind Volume and scared him to death by saying, "She seems pretty cool," in his ear.

"Ahh!" he flinched. "Don't do that! And I think she's a bit weird."

"She looked sad," Volt realized. "She had that look, right behind her eyes."

🌩

Alien managed to sneak out of the crowd to the ladder, which she used to climb to the surface. She walked along the highway for a moment, until she found the spot she was looking for. She sat down on the sand, right where she had many times before.

"Hi Taylor," she said casually. "How're you doing?"

No reply.

"Remember that one patrol we went on?" she began. "With those kids who were arrested for singing—well, more like screaming— _Bohemian Rhapsody_ in Central Square? Yeah, that was crazy. They practically tripped over themselves running to join us." She paused for a moment. "You know, that was the first time I really realized that I loved you. We were walking out of there, and it just hit me like a pile of bricks.  _I love Taylor Adams_  was repeating itself in my head for hours. Well, I wasn't saying Taylor Adams, but you know what I mean. You don't need your alias anymore."

She pulled a small flower from her pocket. "I brought you this. I figured it was a good time, you know? I hardly ever see them anymore, but I saw it and thought of you."

She placed the flower on the sand in front of the headstone, and stood up.

"I really hope you can hear me right now," she commented. "I mean, it seems scientifically impossible, but sometimes... sometimes I just feel like you're here with me, ya know?"

Still silence.

"It's nice talking to you anyway though," she smiled. "Well, I miss you. I love you. Talk to you tomorrow."

And with that, she walked back towards the Nest.

Violent Vendetta stayed there, resting peacefully in the sand.


	4. 03.

 

Storm and Alien we're having one of their usual jam sessions. It was the anniversary of a lot of bad things happening, and music really helped them cope with everything. The song they'd chosen today was _Revolution Radio_ by Green Day.

Alien sang while strumming out chords on her guitar. Storm played along with the steady beat. This song never ceased to motivate them. It was made right before the Analog War ended, and it never ceased to be a call to arms for the rebels.

They played through the rest of the song diligently. Music was their passion, and they always worked really well together. Alien couldn't help but add an insane guitar solo to the middle, and Storm, out of obligation, took a solo at the end.

It was only after they stopped playing that they noticed the three recruits, the Ultra Vs, standing in the doorway with their jaws agape.

"That," Volt gasped, "was amazing."

"Dude, what was that?" Volume grinned from ear to ear.

"That, my friends, is music." Alien smirked. "Cool, huh? There's more where that came from."

Suddenly, a head poked into the doorframe from the outside. It was Cherri Cola. "General," he addressed Alien (he refused to call her by her name), "sorry to interrupt, but you're gonna want to see this. Storm, you too."

"Really, Cola?" Alien complained. She sighed and made a dramatic show of pulling off her guitar strap and placing the instrument back onto its stand. Storm casually placed his drumsticks onto the snare and stood up, following the other two out of the room.

As he was exiting the room, however, he felt a tap on his shoulder. Val Velocity was looking at him. "She's supposed to be the leader, right?" he grimaced.

"Well yeah," Storm said after a pause.  _What's this kid getting at?_

"She really doesn't seem to do much, does she?" he said, raising an eyebrow. "You'd think she'd be running around all the time, dealing with all kinds of work, right?"

Storm resisted the urge to sigh. "The army has a more democratic government, sort of," he tried to explain. "The individual groups can handle themselves; she really only gets involved-"

"-when shit hits the fan?" Val cut him off. "She really needs to keep a better eye, not just on the rest of the Killjoys, but on BLI. We really need to focus more on big attacks, right? That's the only way to-"

"Storm!" Cola's voice called from Alien's office. "You comin'?"

"Be right there," he yelled back. "I gotta go," he said to Val, trying not to look smug.

"You should really encourage her," Val pressed. "She needs to support the cause more..."

Storm was already walking away.

He was getting really angry. He was always loyal to a fault. He didn't care when people insulted him, but if someone said anything about his friends or his sister, he went crazy.

He tried not to slam the office's door behind when he entered, but failed.

"Geez," Alien commented, "Is something wrong? What happened back there?"

"I," Storm hissed, "do not like that kid."

"Who, Val?" Alien was shocked. "He seemed like a cool guy! What'd he say?"

Storm took a deep breath. "He said that you weren't doing your job right and that you should control the army more."

Alien shrugged. "A lot of people say that. I can handle it."

"No, you're not getting it!" Storm's voice raised. "He openly insulted you! I-"

"Storm," Cola cut in, "we should really focus on the task at hand."

Storm put his hands up in surrender.  _I'll deal with this later._

"Righty then, what d'ya got for us?" Alien said, sitting on her desk.

"Well," Cola looked extremely worried. "We seem to have a new enemy."

"Oh really? What've BLI cooked up for us this time?"

"I hate to tell you this..." Cola took a breath. "It's not BLI. It's other Killjoys. Well, they wouldn't really be classified as Killjoys... Rebels."

The General's eyebrows furrowed. "Wait, what? What do you mean?"

"I'm getting reports of this group," Cola explained, "who supposedly have been killing people who they falsely accused of helping BLI. They think that the entire city should burn to the ground, even though most of the people there are innocent."

"So they're extremists?" Alien said, looking concerned. "Well, who are they?"

Cola grabbed his tablet, which he had reprogrammed to not be in BLI's control. He pulled up a photo from a BLI file and showed it to the other two Killjoys. "This is their leader. She goes by the name Grenade Shock." The photo was taken by a security camera on the city wall. She had bright pink hair and wore a camouflage jacket. She seemed to be spray-painting something on the wall.

"She looks like a normal Killjoy," Storm observed.

"Trust me, she's not," Cola told him. "She's murdered about fifty innocent people with hand-to-hand combat only, and several more with her gun."

Storm was shocked into silence.

Cola pulled up another photo. "This is her brother. He's called Toxic Revenge." The photo showed a young-looking boy with black hair throwing a small grenade. "He's a mechanic, and he's made several new weapons. Watch this." He pulled up a security video. The same boy was shown in an alley, holding what looked like a missile cannon and aiming it into a crowded street. "This is one of his inventions. The cannon seeks out any trace of BLI's medication, and fires at it." The boy fired the cannon, and several small missiles came out of it, and shot down about ten people at once.

"Holy shit," Alien exclaimed.

"Those two are the main threats, but they've got a pretty good-sized following. And they hate you," Cola added, looking at Alien.

"How old is he?" Storm asked.

"Oh, Revenge? About ten."

" _Ten_?" Alien yelled.

"It's unbelievable, I know," Cola tried to reassure. "We'll just have to keep you under better security."

"Well, what are we gonna do about them?" Storm asked, panicked. "We can't just kill them, that's what  _they_  do!"

"We'll send them a message," Alien suggested. "Tell them that we don't mean any harm to them, and maybe we can make a truce?"

"We can try it," Cola said, "but don't be surprised if it doesn't work. They don't seem like the peacemaking type."

"Well, thank you for informing me," Alien said, and hopped off of her desk. "What d'ya say we all sleep on this and take care of it in the morning?"

Storm looked at his watch.  _22:30_ , it read.  _It is getting late._  "I like that idea," he agreed.


	5. 04.

"Salutations!"

The crowd screamed in response.

"My name's Mad Gear, but you probably already knew that since you came to see me."

They all laughed.

"This is actually a very special show. Two years ago today, Missile Kid and I performed here with the Fabulous Four. It ended up being their last show."

The crowd went silent.

"I'm here to honor them tonight, and to remind all of you to keep fighting and stay alive, even when it seems like you don't have anything else to live for."

The crowd shouted louder than they ever had. Someone began chanting, "KILLJOYS NEVER DIE!" and soon the rest of the crowd was screaming those words to the sky.

🌩

"I like him," Val shouted to his friends over the din.

"Thanks for bringing us, Sunset!" Volume said.

Sunset grinned. "No problem! I love Mad Gear's music."

They had gone to the concert despite Storm's protests. Sunset honestly had no idea why he didn't like Val.

Volume whooped when the next song started. "Why the hell would BLI want to get rid of this?"

"I honestly don't know," Sunset replied, struggling to be heard over the noise. "They think that individuality causes problems... I dunno."

"To hell with BLI!" Val screamed.

"Your brother plays music, right?" Volt asked. Sunset nodded. "Why don't he and the General play up there? They sounded awesome!"

"They're missing a bassist," Sunset replied sadly. "Don't bring it up to Al."

"Why n—"

"Don't ask."

The three of them focused on the music once again.

 _"They say 'stay in your lane, boy,'_  
_lane boy,_  
_but we go where we want to,_  
_they think this thing is a highway,_  
_highway,_  
_but will they be alive tomorrow?"_

🌩

"They received our message," Cola informed the General.

Alien raised an eyebrow. "And?"

"Grenade Shock sent a reply. She said that she and her brother agree to meet to arrange a treaty."

Alien looked surprised. "Really? Okay! Where and when?"

"Uh, General?"

"What's up, Cola?"

"Are you sure we can trust them?" Cola looked really worried.

Alien sighed. "Is there anything else we can do? I'm not trusting them completely, but we have to try and give them a chance. If it goes bad, it goes bad. We'll just have to bring backup. Anyways, where and when?"

"They said—" Cola's voice cracked, "—the Four's diner. 1300 hours tomorrow."

"Destroya," Alien groaned, "They never stop taunting us, do they? Well, I guess we'll just have to go out there then."

"Hey, General?"

"Yeah?"

"Why doesn't Storm have a rank of any kind? He has amazing leadership skills."

Alien considered this. "Honestly, I have no idea. I didn't want to do anything drastic for a while, he was still getting over... Poison."

"Why don't we ever say their names?" Cola queried. "I think we should, you know, give them some respect."

"But I dunno about now," Alien thought out loud. "I mean, there really aren't any other ranks that I could put him in. The gangs are independent except for us. I can't exactly give him a command."

Cola sighed. "Yeah, that'd be weird. But wait, what if you started playing music together? He's a damn good drummer and no one commands a stage like you, so why not?"

Alien really liked that idea. She hadn't performed in so long... "But it might make Storm feel bad, you know? The last time he was on stage he was with the Four..."

"I think you're starting to underestimate the kid," Cola commented. "You're so afraid of hurting him that you're keeping him from experiencing things."

Alien's eyebrows furrowed. "That is  _not_  what I'm doing!"

"It might not be what you're  _trying_  to do—"

Alien's communicator began to beep. It wasn't an SOS, which was good. "Hang on," she told her friend, "I gotta take this." She pressed a button to answer the call. She listened to the caller, then her face broke into a grin.

"You'll never guess who it is."

🌩

"So, what's going on?" Storm asked.

"My friend wants to meet up with me at Tommy's," Alien told him.

They were in their van, driving out into Zone Six. Sunset and Cola were with them. Even though it had been a year, they still reminisced about the time when Vendetta sat in the passenger seat where Storm sat now.

"What friend?" Storm asked.

"Her name's Sonic Revolution," Alien replied. "She's a bit of a nomad. She'll hang out with us for a few months then fall off the face of the earth for a few months or so. She's really cool though, you'll like her."

"Okay..." Storm responded, still kind of confused, but he went with it anyway. "Is she alone for all that time?"

"Most of it, yeah, but her family's in the Lobby, so she spends a lot of time there too."

 _Family?_  He'd never met anyone out here that actually still had a family. Most people's parents were either dead or trapped in Battery City. "Why haven't I met her? Did she leave for that long?"

"Nah. I met with her at a Suitehearts show about a year ago, we caught up a bit then. I didn't get the chance to tell her anything major. But she'll probably stay with us for a few months."

They arrived at Tommy Chow Mein's shop without event. They parked outside like they always did.

However, Alien soon caught sight of a girl with bright pink hair leaning against a wall, smiling at her. She jumped out of the car and sprinted towards the other girl, who started to do the same. The two collided into a hug of the likes that none of the other Killjoys had ever seen.

Cola also got out, but he walked at a normal pace, allowing the siblings to follow him, which they did.

"Guys," Alien grinned, "This is Rev, Sonic Revolution."

"Call me SIR," Revolution told the two of them. Alien snickered.  _Sir?_ Storm figured that she wanted to be called that, but no one ever did. She wore a beat-up denim jacket that was covered in paint and patches, and her hair was halfway tied up in a bun.

"And that's Silent Storm and Sunset Flash," the general gestured to each of them, and they said hello. "And you know Cola, of course."

Revolution looked the siblings up and down, then said, "You two look familiar."

"Have you kept up with the news at all?" Alien asked her friend. "Been listening to D's broadcasts, reading magazines, anything from the past two years?"

"Not much," she replied nonchalantly. "I did hear about the Four though. That's really sad. But anyways, I feel like I've seen them before, not out here, though."

"Let's just say that they have that kind of face," Alien smirked. Storm and Sunset hadn't been recognized for their real identities since they'd been in the Zones. It was a bit weird.

"Hey..." Revolution seemed to notice something. "Where's Ven? You two are usually attached at the hip."

Alien took a deep breath. "You, my friend, have a lot to catch up on."

Alien led the group back to the van, and they proceeded back towards the Nest hastily. Alien caught Revolution up with the events she'd missed, but after that, it was awkwardly silent for the rest of the journey.

None of them wanted to voice what was on their minds at the moment.


	6. 05.

Alien and Revolution talked for the rest of the day. It took a while to catch the returning Killjoy up to speed with the events of late.

The hardest part for Alien was telling her friend about Vendetta.

She got a bit choked up recalling the events, but that was it. She had taught herself to remember the happy moments of his life, not the pain of his death. But human emotions are hard to deter.

Storm was a bit skeptical of the newcomer. He'd never heard or even comprehended the idea of someone who just leaves their friends randomly and doesn't come back for months on end. Alien seemed to trust her, which honestly wasn't that reassuring, because Alien seemed to throw her trust at people randomly, and never ceased to give second chances to people who didn't deserve them.

The next day, the two girls were still chatting when Storm entered the mess hall for his breakfast. After he had gotten a can of Power Pup, Alien called him over to sit with them, and he obliged.

"Mornin' Stormy! What's up?" The general grinned.

"Hey guys," he said as he sat down across from them. Revolution continued to look him over, slightly distrusting.

"So," Revolution said casually, "Al here talks pretty highly of you. You actually got out of the city on your own?"

"With my sister," he corrected, "but yeah. It's not that big of a deal."

"Hell yeah it is," she contradicted, "the last people who managed that without a patrol were this one and Ven, and that was three years before you did. You shouldn't downgrade yourself."

 _Wow,_  he thought. "Thanks, I guess—"

"That doesn't mean I trust you," Revolution cut in. "But, tell me one thing. You can't get out on your own while you're on the pills, right? So how did you get out of the main city of your own accord?"

Alien spoke up. "Okay, he'd have to tell you his real identity to tell you that, so let's change the subject."

 _Thank Destroya._ Storm almost sighed in relief, but caught himself at the last moment. He scooped some (disgusting) Power Pup into his mouth. He'd long since gotten used to the taste of the vile dog food, because it was really the only thing the Killjoys had to eat that wasn't really expensive.

"You were with Poison, right?" Revolution asked Storm. "He always seemed so uptight about the whole romance thing, except for his epic stage gay, of course."

Storm took a breath. "Yeah," he told her. He really wasn't in the mood to talk about this.

"Hey Storm," Alien cut in, "can I talk to you, ya know, in private?"

Storm nodded (not too vigorously, he hoped), and the two got up and moved a few feet away.

"Why are you being so apprehensive?" Alien snapped when they were out of earshot. "The way you look at her, you'd think Rev was gonna jump up and kill us all!"

"Well I'm sorry," Storm whisper-yelled, "but I just don't trust her!"

"She's my best friend!"

"What kind of friend disappears for two years when you need her the most, huh?"

Alien stopped and took a breath. The tension was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

Storm then realized what he'd said. Alien was always so loyal to her friends, and she'd known Revolution for way longer than she'd known him. "Al, I didn't mean-"

"No, it's okay," Alien deadpanned. "Why don't you go find someone you aren't bitter about and eat your breakfast with them?" Then she turned on her heel and walked back over to Revolution, who she sat down next to.

Storm was speechless. He walked out of the room, leaving his can of Power Pup where it was. He'd lost his appetite.

🌩

Sunset had taken the three newcomers out to get new clothes (because it would suck if they looked like BLI for the rest of the time they were out here) and they were loving it. Volt had chosen a lot of bright green for her attire, while Volume went with several shades of blue, purple, and red. Val was still changing, so they hadn't seen his choices yet.

"Oh,  _hell yes_!" yelled Volt, messing with her freshly dyed green hair.

Volume was layering gel into his already severely spiked lavender-colored hair (which went with his new spiky leather jacket). "Dude, are you kidding? This is awesome!"

"Hey guys," Val's voice said from behind the group. He had taken a bit of a risk when choosing his outfit, but he didn't care. What he thought was, the color white is actually the combination of every color, so why not use that to his advantage? He had kept his hair white, and chosen light gray jeans and a black denim jacket. He had also found some plastic vampire teeth on a string, which he hung around his neck.

Sunset's jaw went slack. She couldn't believe the amount of white he was wearing, but was also kind of proud of his confidence. "Holy—wow."

"That bad, huh?" Val chuckled. "I just kinda figured, white is the combination of all the colors, right? I could change how people see it."

 _Wow, that's even better,_  Sunset thought.

"That's actually really cool, One—Val, sorry," Volt commented.

"It's alright, the names will be hard to get used to. And uh, thanks." Val ran a hand through his hair. "So Sunset, are we gonna go back to the Nest now, or..."

"Yeah," Sunset told him. "Alien will want to see this."

"Is there any other concerts we can go to?" Volume asked eagerly. "The Mad Gear one was awesome!"

"Al might know a few," the ginger assumed. "We should get going."

Sunset waved to Tommy Chow Mein, and the group found their way out of the shop.

They had run into a couple of Dracs on the way home from the Mad Gear show, and after they took care of them, they claimed their motorcycles for their own. There was only three of them, and Sunset thought it fair that each of the Vs should get one, because she already had the van that she shared with Storm and Alien.

She sat behind Val for now, and held onto his new jacket as they sped along the highway.


	7. 06.

In the light of the (supposed) upcoming meeting with the extremists, Cherri Cola ultimately ruled that General Alien should not go. He had very little trust in these people.

The general had insisted at first, then realized that her attempts were futile and let him go. He was nothing if not faithful to her, and she was grateful, but she hated that he constantly felt like he had to protect her when she didn't need it.

He gathered a group of Killjoys (Capricorn, Silent Storm, and Dr. Benzedrine) and set off in MARS's convertible, which Night Hunter had been reluctant to let them use.

Cola followed the familiar route to the Fabulous Four's diner. He knew that the extremists had chosen this location just to mess with them.

They stood outside of the diner. There were two motorcycles leaning on the outside of the building, which Cola assumed were the extremists'.

Storm hadn't been to the diner since the Four had died. He tried not to reminisce about his time with Poison and focus on the task at hand.

"Okay, so how do we know if it's a trap or not?" Benzedrine asked tentatively.

"Well, I for one am not seeing any signs of it being a trap," Capricorn observed.

"Just for the record, let's be cautious about this," Cola told his group.

"Guys," Benzedrine said, "Are we sure they're even in there?"

"Their bikes are already out here," Capricorn told him, slowly moving towards the door. "We'd have to walk in and see."

"Dude, seriously?" Storm grabbed his friend's shoulder, holding him back. "You know how Toxic Revenge is, he could have set up a motion sensor that blows up the building while we're in there or something. And they'd just be hiding somewhere laughing at our stupidity."

"Wait," Cola said, turning away from the group. "Do you hear that?"

They all quieted to listen.

"Oh shit, that's an engine," Capricorn remarked, "and it doesn't sound like a Killjoy one."

As soon as he saw the BLI van, Cola yelled, "Get inside! NOW!"

The rest of the men didn't hesitate to run into the diner and jump behind the front wall, out of sight of the van.

Storm looked around the room, trying his best to resist his negative emotions. Then he saw a small flash of light, and his eyes followed it. He gasped, then turned to Cola. "There's a bomb on the wall over there!"

Cola saw it, and his mind immediately went to work.  _It would have gone off once we came in here if they wanted to kill us... but how does BLI know we're here... unless—_  "They're gonna blow us up as soon as BLI get in here to kill two birds with one stone! We have to get out, now!"

"But they'll see us," Capricorn said frantically.

"The back window," Storm remembered, "we could get out that way!"

"Go, now!" Cola ordered. The three others complied.

Storm held the door to the kitchen open for the rest of the group and closed the door behind him.

Capricorn tugged on the window, and when it didn't open, he smashed the glass with the butt of his gun. He climbed out first, then Benzedrine followed.

Storm was about to climb out, but he spotted a flash of yellow in the corner of his eye.

_Poison's mask._

"Storm! Come on!" Cola rushed him.

Storm hesitated, then ran across the room to grab the mask. He took it, and jumped out of the window as fast as he could manage.

Cola climbed out last, then the group ran as far away from the building as they could—

A sudden blast, and the four of them were blown forward.

The diner had been reduced to rubble.

"Come on, we have to get back to the car!" Cola yelled, and they all turned back toward where they knew their vehicle was.

They almost got to the car before ray gun blasts started to rain on them.

"Shit!" Capricorn yelled, and sped up.

Storm was already going at full speed, so he attempted to push himself even further.

But suddenly, Cola grunted in pain. He kept running for the sake of his friends, but his bicep was exploding with pain.

"Cola!" Storm called, "I'll drive!"

Cola got the hint, and when they got to the car, got into the passenger seat. Storm jumped into the driver's seat, and as soon as the other two Killjoys were in, he floored the gas pedal, and they sped away.

🌩

"So, that pretty much sums it up," Alien finished recapping the events of the past two years to Revolution. She sat on her desk while her friend listened from a chair across from her.

Revolution paused, taking everything in. "Wow," she said thoughtfully. "You guys had one hell of a ride two years ago. What happened to make everything stop for that long, though?"

"Well, you know how families can sometimes get really depressed after a member dies?

"Yeah."

"I think that's what happened when the Four were ghosted," the general surmised. "They were everyone's heroes, therefore when they died, everyone got depressed. No one really had the motivation to do anything."

"Well, until these extremists popped up," Revolution added, eyebrows furrowing. "What's the deal with that anyway? Weren't you supposed to meet them for a truce or something?"

"Cola said it would be safer if he went instead. He said he wanted to make sure it wasn't a trap. He took Cap, Benz, and Storm."

"And what if it is a trap?"

Alien sighed. "Let's hope it isn't, for now. Anyways, what have you been up to?"

"Just running around, mostly. Hung out with my family-"

"How're they?" Alien interrupted.

"Pretty good, same old same old..." Revolution continued. "Actually, there is one thing I found that I thought you'd like. Have you ever heard of a band called Palaye Royale?"

Alien did. She laughed when she realized that she'd forgotten to include the three men who had been in BLI's prison with her in her story. "Yeah, I have."

"I've been keeping up with their music, and it's actually really good!" Revolution was grinning. "They're playing a show later on tonight, wanna go? You could probably get in free, being the general and all..."

"Hell yeah," Alien smiled back at her friend. "If nothing else comes up, that is."

Suddenly, the door opened, and a disheveled Cola fell into the doorframe. He stood there for a moment, then panted, "You would not believe the day I've had."


	8. 07.

Sunset was once again with the Ultra Vs. They seemed to really like her, and she was becoming particularly attached to the three recruits. She favored Val out of all of them, but she obviously couldn't voice that opinion.

Today, she had made it her mission to show them as much of the desert as she could.

The first place they went to was deep in Zone Six, where a large, dead robot that androids liked to call Destroya laid. There was a legend among the droids that Destroya would one day come back to life and set them all free from BLI's control, which is why the Killjoys had integrated the word into their vocabulary in the place of the word "god" after a giant battle for it (the Killjoys were led by Alien, who had recounted the event) back in 2017. Volume had freaked out when he saw it. He asked  _so_  many questions about how it might have worked, none of which Sunset was able to answer.

Her second thought was that she would take them to the Fabulous Four's diner. It was pretty important to Killjoy history. But when she tried to lead the group there, she couldn't find it. They circled the area where she knew the building would be, but it just wasn't there.

Then she spotted a large pile of rubble. She told Val to go towards it, and they stopped in front of it.

It wasn't until she saw the remains of the diner's neon sign that she realized that they'd reached their destination.

Her throat began to constrict against her will, and her eyes filled. She tried her hardest not to let her mind fall into the deepest pits of her thoughts, but she couldn't help remembering that five of her closest friends would still be alive if it weren't for her. She didn't know how the diner had been destroyed, but her emotions didn't seem to care.

"Hey, are you alright?" Val asked, taking her hand.

She didn't want to seem weak in front of them, but her thoughts spilled over anyway. "It's all my fault," she gasped, "They're gone and it's my fault, and Ven—" She choked up.

Val didn't hesitate to pull Sunset into his arms. She buried her face in his black denim jacket, her sadness and anger exploding out of her like water from a cracked dam.

🌩

Cola collapsed into Alien's desk chair. His right shirtsleeve has been reduced to tatters, and his arm sported a large, ugly burn.

Storm, Capricorn, and Benzedrine all filed into Alien's office to relay their experience to her. Benzedrine tended to Cola in the meantime.

"Damn! I knew it was a trap!" Alien yelled, slamming her hand on her desk when they finished.

"For the record," Revolution commented, "Cola was the one who told you not to go."

Alien ignored her. "Man, these guys are good! So what do we do now?"

Storm spoke up. "Well, we know we can't attack them, 'cause they have Toxic Revenge. That kid is a genius."

"But we can't just leave them," Capricorn argued, "Then they'd have the last laugh. Nothing's safe for you anymore, Al."

"Wait," Revolution interrupted, "Is this going to interrupt our plans tonight?"

"Yes," Cola said.

"No," Alien said at the same time.

"Wait, what?" Storm said afterwards.

"We were gonna go to a concert," Alien glared at Cola, "and we still are."

"It's not safe!" Cola argued. "What if they find out you're there? We can't risk that!"

"Keep in mind that I'll be there," Revolution commented. "I won't let her do anything stupid." Alien punched her friend in the arm at that.

Cola sighed. "Fine. But Storm goes with you. And Sunset."

"What?" Storm was very confused.

"Sunset's out with the Vs again," Alien corrected. "But Storm can come if he wants to. Do you want to?"

"Uh," Storm calmed down a bit. "That's fine, I guess." Inside, he was screaming. He didn't want to spend a whole night with Revolution! She was practically a traitor, walking out on her friends like that!

"We should probably head out now," Revolution said. "The show starts at 2100."

"Okay then, let's go!" Alien hopped off of her desk and headed out, Revolution on her tail. Storm reluctantly followed after a push from Capricorn.

🌩

"So," Revolution begins, "Palaye are a relatively unknown band, so they can't quite get a spot at the Pit. So they usually play at their bar. That's where we're going." She had insisted on driving, because apparently, Alien is terrible at going places she doesn't know the way to.

"Their bar?" Alien asked, "Do they live there?"

"Yup. I thought you said you picked them up?"

"I was picked up  _with them._  They just kinda disappeared one day, and I was too depressed to care."

They carried on their conversation in the front, while Storm looked out the window in the backseat. He had been silent the whole time. He tried to dispel his anger;  _Come on,_ he thought,  _Al trusts her, she's got to be fine... right?_  But he couldn't help his persistent negative attitude towards Revolution.

They arrived at a small bar/restaurant, which was surrounded by vehicles of all kinds. There was loud music pouring from its windows, as well as the sound of people yelling.

"Al, you're gonna love these guys," Revolution told Alien.

"I trust you," the general grinned.

 _Of course you do,_  Storm thought, trying not to show his anger.

They walked into the building, straight into a crowd of people. There was hardly any space to move around in, but none of the Killjoys in the room seemed to care. They were surrounding a small stage in the corner of the room, upon which were a band made up of three guys.

Storm recognized them immediately. They were Remington, Sebastian, and Emerson, the three men that he and the Four had rescued along with Alien. But they definitely looked a lot more like Killjoys now. Their music sounded rough in a way, especially Remington's vocals. But they were very good.

"Hey Al," Revolution said tentatively, struggling to be heard over the loud music. "I kinda didn't tell you something... and you're not gonna like it."

Alien was confused. "Wait, what do you—"

"SIR!" a voice said behind her. "Glad you could make it!"

She turned around, and found the one person she did not want to see.

Then Killer King saw the general, and his face instantly fell into one of annoyance. "Well shit," he said, "that ruins my plans."


	9. 08.

Alien was definitely not in the mood for this. She turned to Revolution with a look of betrayal on her face. She exaggerated it a bit, just because. "Rev, can you please explain?"

Revolution suppressed a laugh. "So basically, Killer invited me here, and of course I said yes, 'cause I love these guys. Palaye, I mean. But then he told me that his plan for the night was to get drunk off our asses, and I did not want to have a hangover the next day. But I have no self-control around him, so I brought you to be my self-control. 'Cause you don't drink."

Killer started laughing. "Your ass just got  _used_!"

"Oh, fuck off," Alien rolled her eyes.

"Oh, and I know you guys still hate each other, and you arguing is actually really entertaining." Revolution smirked.

"SIR!" It was now Killer's turn to feel betrayed. "You evil woman!" he took a swig of his beer. "I'm gonna go get another drink. I do not wanna deal with this little shit today."

"Well that was brutal," Storm finally spoke up.

"I'm gonna go annoy him," Alien said, smirking. "Wanna come with?"

"Yeah," Revolution grinned. "Storm, you should see this. Their arguments are awesome."

Storm never found fighting funny, and he had no idea how Revolution could. But he followed along.

Killer was already sitting on a barstool with a shot glass on the bar in front of him. Alien rested her elbow on Killer's shoulder. "So," she drawled, "what exactly is it that you find annoying about me?"

Killer sighed dramatically and took his shot. "Well number one, you just never stop talking. You scream a lot too, it's just too much."

"Oh really?" Alien continued to smile. "Number one? Is there more?"

"Yeah, actually." he seemed to be getting really angry. "Your ego is one of the biggest I've ever seen. You always act so smug about everything."

"Really, Mr. 'I-make-these-high-heels-work'?"

The two of them continued to bicker. Storm couldn't help ordering a drink from the bar. He was not in a good mood. He sipped his beer and tried to pay attention to the music. the songs were pretty good, given that he couldn't understand any of the lyrics because of Remington's stylized vocals. A few songs passed, and he had downed two-and-a-half bottles of beer. 

"Hey Storm," Revolution asked him, "while we're on the topic, why is it that you don't trust me?"

Storm shook his head. "I don't really want to talk about it." He didn't want to start a fight, but he could already feel the alcohol dulling his self-control.

"Why not?" She seemed sympathetic.

"You know what?" Storm blew up. "Who the hell abandons their friends for two years? Oh, and refuses to explain where they were—"

"I did!" Revolution interrupted. "I said I was traveling, and spending time with my family!"

"But Al didn't know that, did she? Or Ven? Oh yeah, you never said goodbye to Ven, and you never will—"

Storm felt a hand squeeze his shoulder. It was Alien. "Storm," she warned.

He ignored her. "And the Four! What about them?" He couldn't stop pouring all of his negative thoughts out. "Do you even miss any of them?"

"Storm, stop!" Alien said again, more forcefully.

"Oh, that's rich coming from you!" Revolution shot back. "I knew them for three years!  _Three years_! And you were only around for, what,  _two months_?"

" _Et tu_ , Rev?" Alien groaned, making a reference to Ancient Rome.

"Three, actually," Storm corrected venomously. "And do you really think the time we spent together had anything to do with how much I loved him? He was the  _light_  of my  _life_! And—"

"Wait," Revolution interrupted. "I think I just figured it out! You're  _jealous_!"

"Bullshit!"

"You're jealous because you thought you were Al's best friend, and then I showed up! It all makes sense now!"

The crowd was starting to notice the commotion now. They gathered around the two Killjoys, focused on their rivalry.

"Rev, don't," Alien warned again.

"I am not!" Storm's voice raised even more. "I just think you're a  _traitor_!"

The room went silent. Even the band stopped playing.

And Revolution didn't hesitate to punch Storm square in the jaw.

Storm staggered back, pressing a hand to his cheek.

"And to think," Revolution deadpanned, "I was just starting to like you."

🌩

Revolution left after that happened. Alien said she had no choice but to go with her, and that Storm would have to call Sunset and the Ultra Vs to come pick him up. She also said that she'd try and reason with Revolution, but also that Storm should rethink his opinion on her.

He sat at the bar for a while, drinking. He really thought about what Revolution had said, and realized that she was right. Alien had been his best friend (other than Sunset, of course), then suddenly, someone who he had no idea existed showed up, and she started spending a ton of time with her and not him.

He did eventually call Sunset, but Val had answered instead. He said that she wasn't in the best shape right now, and that he would tell Capricorn and Night Hunter to pick him up instead. The two brothers were in a group called MARS, and had helped out when he and the Four went to rescue Alien from BLI. He would be happy to at least see someone who had never been a total ass to him.

Eventually, Killer sat next to him. "Hey kid," he greeted. "What was all that about, a while ago?"

And so, in his drunken haze, he told Killer all of his innermost feelings. "—And-and I think I'm like, a different person now," he slurred, "since Poison died, ya know, I-I loved him, and losing him was bad."

"I feel ya, kid," Killer commented. "Downpour died a couple of months ago."

"Wait, what?" Storm was surprised. "I had n-no idea. I'm sorry, man. How, i-if you don't mind?"

"Radiation poisoning," Killer sighed. "He'd been living way out in Zone Six for so long, you know that, but one day it just got him. I was there the whole time, though." Killer paused. "His name was Ryan. Ryan Ross."

Storm put a hand on Killer's shoulder. "I'm really sorry, Killer."

"It's okay," the tumbleweed said. "He's with Vein and Gentleman now. Those were the two other guys in our gang. Young Vein and Green Gentleman. We were called Panic... I guess it's just me now."

"Hey guys!" Capricorn popped up behind them. "Storm, ready to go?"

"Yeah," Storm said softly.

"Cool! Hunter's waiting back at the car."

Storm bid Killer adieu, then followed Capricorn out to his and Hunter's car. While they were driving, he asked if he could stay the night at their place. They accepted, already knowing the reason for his request.

Storm ended up passing out in their backseat.


	10. 09.

Storm woke up, and the first thing he felt was his head about to explode.

He sat up groggily and rubbed his temples, to no avail.  _Hangover_ , he diagnosed.

He had been drunk before, yeah, but never as bad as last night. He tried to remember what had happened, but it was a bit fuzzy.

 _Yelling at Revolution, her yelling back, being punched in the face..._  then it went blank.

He flopped back onto the couch, sighing.

_Wait, couch?_

He sat up again, and looked around. He found himself looking at the inside of a small trailer house, which was completely unfamiliar. He had no idea how he got there.

He stood up, ignoring the throbbing pain in his head, and realized there was someone in the kitchen making coffee. He recognized the choppy black hair with a bit of red underneath as Capricorn.

Capricorn noticed that the other Killjoy was awake, and smiled at him. "Hey, it's alive!"

"Uh..." Storm said, his voice raspy. "How did I get here?"

"You were smashed drunk last night," Capricorn laughed. "You didn't wanna go back to the Nest, for obvious reasons, so you asked to crash at ours for the night. Then you passed out in our backseat."

 _Jeez..._  "Would you maybe have anything to, ya know," he gestured toward his head, "clear this up?"

"Sorry man, the only pain meds out here are BLI ones, and we know you don't want any of those."

"Shit," Storm muttered.

"Yeah, it is." Capricorn opened a cabinet and pulled out a can of Power Pup. "Want some breakfast?"

"Definitely," Storm agreed, taking the can. He also grabbed a can opener and a spoon from the other Killjoy, and was soon devouring the disgusting dog food.

"Coffee's ready if you want some," Capricorn said after a minute.

"How'd you even get coffee out here?"

"Poison gave us like six bags of it as a 'returning to the desert' gift. But we hardly ever use it, except when I'm having a craving."

"Oh yeah," Storm hummed in response. "I remember that." He continued to observe the small house. There was the living room where he had been sleeping, which was connected to the kitchen in which he currently sat at a small table. There was a hallway that led to three other rooms, which Storm assumed were the brothers' rooms and the room that their third member had used.

"Wait," Storm said, "You have a TV? Dude, where'd you get that? Does it work?"

Capricorn grinned as he sat next to Storm with his coffee. "It was just in here when we found this place. And yeah, it works. We're in Zone Three, so Hunter managed to hack into BLI's power grid. It gets some awesome video games!"

"Al says she's always wanted one for the Nest."

"Yeah, she's been trying to take this one off our hands for years, but we're kinda attached."

Just then, Hunter stumbled in. "Dude, it's like, 1000 hours," he said, "why the hell are you up? It's too early."

"Nah," Capricorn told his brother, "the sun is up, and so are we."

"What's up, Storm?" Hunter greeted. "You had one hell of a night last night!"

"Yeah," Storm laughed. "I'm hungover as hell, but otherwise fine."

"Dude, you made coffee?" Hunter headed towards the kitchen. "Gimme that shit."

"Hey Storm," Capricorn said, "wanna play  _Neon Ghostslingers 3_? It's the newest version."

"I've never played it."

"Well, now's a good time to start." Capricorn grinned and handed Storm a controller.

🌩

Alien was miserable.

The one thing that she hated the most was when her friends were upset. And now, Revolution was angry as all hell, Storm was probably guilty and regretful, and Sunset was a sad, anxious mess.

And Alien hated it.

She knew that there was no chance that Rev would ever trust Storm again, so she suggested that Sunset and the Vs pick him up. But then the Vs had come back to the Nest Storm-less and with a really unstable Sunset. Val said he'd called Capricorn to go and pick him up and bring him home, but Storm still never showed up.  _He probably stayed at Cap and Hunter's_ , she figured, but she still couldn't help worrying.

She had also tried to convince Revolution to give Storm a chance, that she knew he'd come around, but Rev continued to refuse. Alien gave up eventually, because if anyone could hold a grudge, it was Rev.

Val said that it was the diner being destroyed that triggered Sunset's anxiety attack. He said that "She said it was her fault, then she mentioned someone called Ven." Alien stopped him there.

She really didn't want to admit it, but she wasn't getting on very well without Vendetta. Yeah, she was done being sad, but he was her self control, her decision maker, as well as her entire life and the only person that she had left that she loved. She missed playing music with him, laughing with him, and him calling her a little shit and her calling him a dumbass. With him and Revolution, she felt like she could take on the world.

And the two years without them had been the worst years of her life.

Sure, she had Storm and Sunset, but it felt impossible to get close to them knowing that Rev was still alive, as well as remembering the relationship that she had with them.

It kinda sucked, but she dealt with it.

Revolution coming back was almost like a saving grace for her. Hanging out with her old friend just like they always did was a wonderful feeling. But something was still missing, and it hurt.

She took Revolution out to Ven's grave that morning. They climbed out of the Nest solemnly and walked down Route Guano.

They arrived at the headstone in silence. They stood over it for a while. Alien was used to the empty feeling, so she didn't react. But Revolution was a different story.

"Why'd that asshole have to die?" she half-joked.

"He died saving my life," Alien told her.

Revolution laughed sadly. "Always a romantic, that one. He did say he'd do anything for you, didn't he?"

They were quiet for a moment.

"Did you put his mask in a mailbox?" Revolution asked.

"Yeah," Alien said. "I kept his jacket, though."

"I knew you would. You're one of those 'it still smells like him' people."

"But it does!" Alien laughed. "Ya know, I actually dyed my hair silver the week after he died. I would have kept it, too, but Cola said that my 'fans' didn't like it and made me switch back."

"He was so attached to silver," Revolution remembered. "Maybe it was the fact that you liked gold and you guys were like silver and gold."

"That's exactly what it was," Alien agreed. "As long as I wore my goggles, which clearly was  _always_ , he refused to change his hair color. It was sweet!"

Revolution rolled her eyes, chuckling. "You two made me want to vomit. Too much love is a thing!"

"Not for us, my friend," Alien replied, "not for us!"

They continued to laugh and talk for a while, remembering the times they had with their friend. It was sad, really, but it's better to remember the good times than to dwell on the sad ones.


	11. 10.

Storm's communicator beeped in the middle of their  _Neon Ghostslingers 3_ marathon.

"Hold on, I'm getting a call," he said, putting down his controller. "Pause it." He pressed a button to answer the call. "Hey."

_"Stormy! What's up?"_

"Hi Al," Storm smiled.

_"You're with MARS, right?"_

"Yeah."

_"How hungover are you right now?"_

He laughed. "It's pretty bad."

 _"I figured,_ " Alien laughed through the speaker.  _"So, you comin' back to the Nest anytime soon?"_

Storm prepared to respond, but he heard muttering in the background that sounded a bit like arguing. "I'm not sure," he said hesitantly, "I don't think Revolution wants me there."

 _"She doesn't,"_ Alien confessed.  _"But I do. I need you!"_

Storm sighed. "Okay," he said. "I'll get a ride from these guys."

_"Coolness! See ya soon, my dude!"_

🌩

Alien cancelled the call and received a dirty look from Revolution.

"Ya know, Storm has to come back here at some point," Alien told her friend reluctantly as they ate their breakfast.

"Well then, I'll leave," she replied nonchalantly. "I don't wanna see his sorry ass ever again."

"Where'll you go?"

"To Killer's, probably."

"Dude, you just got back!" Alien complained. "I didn't see you for a year, then you just disappear again? Just because of what Storm said when he was drunk?"

"Are you defending him?" Revolution raised her eyebrows.

"No, no," Alien denied, "I just don't want to lose you again."

There was a pause.

"See," Alien elaborated, "when you left, I thought I would be fine, 'cause you would come back after a month and we'd be a trio again, but then the stuff with Ven happened, and I missed you! A ton! I generally don't agree with Storm's opinion on you, but there is one thing I agree with: where were you, Rev? I needed you more than anything, and you just disappeared until now, when it's too late!"

"We can still see each other," Revolution said, "he just can't be there."

"Fine then," Alien sighed. "We should make up for last night. Are Palaye playing anywhere else?"

"They're opening for Mad Gear in a couple days, actually," Revolution said, a smile slowly creeping onto her face.

"Awesome!" Alien said, smiling, but still a bit sad. "Pack your shit if you're gonna leave. Storm'll be here soon."

🌩

Sunset awoke to a knock on the door of the infirmary, where Val had insisted she sleep.

"Hey," Val opened the door and peeked in. "You awake?"

"I am now," she said, sitting up.

"You alright?" He sat down next to her on the cot she sat on.

"Yeah, much better." She sighed. "Sorry you had to see that."

"No, no," Val shook his head. "It's alright. It happens to the best of us."

"I suppose you want to know what the hell I was talking about."

"It's okay if you don't want to talk about it."

"No, it's fine." She took a deep breath. "Two years ago, my brother and I escaped the city. But we only got out because of Alien and her boyfriend. His name was Violent Vendetta. Those two were as in love as any couple could be, you know. Anyways, fast forward a couple of weeks, and Storm, Alien, and the Fab Four were out at a concert, and Ven and I were alone. I had been building up a crush on him, it's bad I know, and I kissed him. Alien walked in on it, then she ran off. But then she got captured by BLI. Ven and I and a bunch of other people went in to rescue her, and we did, but he got shot on the way out and he died." She paused for a moment and took a breath. "That was my fault. Then it gets worse. The Four went out to report everything to Dr. Death Defying, but on the way, the Girl got captured. The Four went back for her, and..." her voice cracked, "they all died too." She forced herself not to cry. "You can see how this is all my fault."

Val put his arm around Sunset's shoulders. "No, it's not," he told her, believing it. "You had no idea that BLI would capture Alien, or the Girl. It wasn't your fault that BLI thought it was okay to kill them. It's all BLI."

"I hate them," Sunset said, leaning into Val.

"Me too," he said.

"Hey, Val?"

"What's up, Sun?"

"Thanks for being here for me."

"I'll always be here for you. We're friends, aren't we?"

"I'd even say best friends." Sunset smiled.

"Yeah. Definitely." Val was extremely happy. He really liked Sunset, and was glad to help her.

🌩

Storm got back to the Nest about an hour later. Alien was waiting for him.

"Morning, Sunshine," she smiled at him.

"Hi," he said, his head still pounding. "Is Revolution here?"

"Nah, she left."

"Where's Sunset?"

"In the infirmary," Alien said. "She had an anxiety attack yesterday-"

"Wait, an anxiety attack?" Storm instantly became paranoid. "What happpened? Is she okay?"

Alien held up a hand and he stopped talking. "She's fine. Val seems to be handling it."

"Val?" Storm said, eyebrows furrowing. "As in Velocity?"

Alien nodded.

"Oh no," Storm cursed. "Sunset can't be making  _friends_ with that jackass."

"She is." Alien ran a hand through her hair. "He honestly doesn't seem like such a bad guy when you know that he stayed with her during an anxiety attack and comforted her. A total asshole would have just left her."

Storm sighed. "I don't know Al, I just don't trust that guy—"

"Of course you don't, Storm," Alien interrupted. "You don't seem to trust anyone these days. You've made too many enemies for yourself. I'm starting to question whether you even trust me or not."

"Of course I trust you!" Storm denied.

"Then why don't you have faith in  _my_  trust?" Alien shouted back. "I trust Rev with my  _life_ , Storm! And you just assume that she's untrustworthy because she spent some time with her family?"

"I'm sorry Al," Storm said, trying to stay calm, "but you tend to give too many second chances. You throw your trust at everyone that comes your way that isn't explicitly mean to you. Even Sunset and I! When we met, you didn't question it when I said we weren't BLI! Only Ven did—"

"Don't bring Ven into this," Alien said firmly. "Storm, listen. I don't want to argue with you. You're my friend, I like you. And yeah, I do tend to do that. But it's because I have faith. I believe that Val has the ability to be a good person, and he has been, so far! Yeah, his political beliefs might not match mine, but he hasn't shown any evidence of being a bad person. If he hurts Sunset, I give you full permission to not trust him. But right now? I advise you to not have a stick up your ass."

Storm was lacking anything to say to that. He realized that she was right. He couldn't go on not trusting every new person he met.

So he opened his arms and wrapped them around Alien's shoulders. She stiffened for a moment, then accepted the hug.

"I'm sorry, Al," he said softly.

"Me too," Alien said into Storm's denim vest.


	12. 11.

The next day, things started to go downhill.

It was 0800 hours when Cola rushed into the living quarters and woke Alien and Storm up. Storm awoke abruptly, then glared at Cola for waking him up. "Dude, what the hell?" he whisper-yelled.

Alien stood next to Cola. "Apparently, he has 'important news'," she whispered, rolling her eyes.

Storm sat up reluctantly, and Alien dragged him off of the cot. Then the three of them went upstairs, two still needing sleep and the other desperate for them to hurry.

When they all got to Alien's office, Storm sat down as soon as he could. Alien sat on her desk like she usually would. "So what is this 'important news'?" she asked Cola.

He frantically grabbed his tablet from Alien's desk and pulled up a BLI news channel. The feed was live, and it showed fire and wreckage. The headline read: " _Better Living Industries medication manufacturing plant destroyed by Killjoys, hundreds killed_ ".

 _"This horrendous act was committed at 2:00 AM this morning,"_  the reporter was saying.  _"Sources say that a bomb detonated from the center of the building, which set off a chain reaction of landmines which destroyed the rest of it. Fortunately, a surveillance camera caught the Killjoy perpetrators in the act. Here is the footage."_

The feed then switched to a grainy video of six people running down a hallway, then stopping. One of the figures had bright pink hair and a greenish-looking jacket. Storm instantly recognized her as Grenade Shock, the leader of the extremists. She spotted the camera, grinned maliciously at it, then took out her gun and shot it, cutting off the video.

 _"Please, for the safety of our city, if anyone sees these criminals, report it to your nearest BLI officer."_  The reporter smiled.  _"Thank you, and have a Better day."_

Cola turned off his tablet, and set it back on the desk with a somber look in his eyes.

Both of the other Killjoys' jaws were on the floor.

"What the actual  _hell_?" Alien exclaimed. She was wide awake now.

"Unbelievable," Storm commented. "Hundreds dead? Those people were all innocent!"

"Not to them," Cola sighed.

"We need to do something about this," Alien said. "And I think I have an idea."

"We're listening," Cola prompted, eyes wide.

"Someone on our side should go undercover into their base and report back to us," Alien told them.

Cola nodded. "That's a good idea," he agreed, "but who should we send in?"

Storm thought for a moment. He still felt like shit for saying that stuff to Revolution and Alien, and for making the general lose her best friend again. He'd betrayed her trust, and he owed her. "I'll do it," he decided. "Send me in."

Alien raised her eyebrows, then smiled. "Well, it looks like we have our person!"

"No, wait," Cola held his hands up. "Are you sure about this, Storm?"

"One hundred percent," Storm said confidently.

"But they've already seen you with me, and they know I'm with the General," Cola protested, "They know what you look like, you'd get found out!"

"Unless he changes his appearance," Alien contradicted. "They never saw his face. He'd be fine."

Cola threw up his hands. "Okay, fine. But it has to be drastic. They  _cannot_  recognize you, under any circumstances. New clothes, new hair color, new name, everything," he told Storm.

"Okay," Storm said, though he was becoming a bit anxious. He'd already had to assume a new identity once, and now he had to hide that identity. It reminded him of an old movie he'd seen a long time ago called  _Inception_. A secret identity inside a secret identity. Identityception.

"Cool stuff!" Alien grinned. "Let's get to work. We're going to Tommy's."

"I'll hold down the fort for you," Cola told her.

Without any further ado, Storm followed Alien to the surface and they were soon driving down the highway in their van. Alien put on a CD of MARS's first album, entitled  _30 Seconds to Mars_. It was really good, in Storm's opinion.

They arrived at the store, and the car was instantly spotted by a group of Killjoys who all claimed to be Alien's "number one fans". She gladly signed their posters despite this and quickly moved on.

When they walked in, Alien's brother Tommy Chow Mein greeted her with a "Hey, Al! Long time, no see!"

"Hey, Tom," Alien waved to him.

"What brings you two here?"

"A top-secret mission," the general winked.

"Alright, you two have fun. You can pay me back later for anything you get, as long as I get the carbons at some point." Chow Mein then sat back at his desk, and continued eating from a can of Power Pup.

The two Killjoys moved to the racks, and Alien looked through them carefully. "So, Stormy," she began. "Let's talk names. What are you thinking?" she held up a black leather jacket with two yellow stripes down the front. "I like this jacket. I'm getting  _lightning_  vibes. What's a word that goes with  _lightning_?"

Storm shrugged. "Hurricane?" he suggested.

"Perfect!" Alien held the jacket up to Storm's chest. "That's your alias. Hurricane Lightning!"

"You're really good at coming up with names on the spot," Storm observed.

"Yeah, it's one of my things," she said, still analyzing the racks. She found a gray muscle shirt, some black jeans, and some dark blue sneakers. This, Storm was fine with, but then they moved to the shelf with the hair dye.

"Alright," Alien began, "You're not gonna like this bit. The last time we were here you were opposed to this idea, but you're probably gonna have to cut your hair."

"Why, though?" Storm complained, running a hand through his long hair. It had grown out a lot since he'd arrived in the Zones, and he'd had to re-dye the roots many times, but he still had memories of Poison running his hands through it... "I could just change the color and I'd be fine." His hair length was the first thing he'd done to rebel against society's pressures, and it was what made him stand out, as well as the blue color.

Alien sighed. "I hate to do this to you, but would you either cut your hair or be discovered and die? If they find out that you're associated with me, they won't hesitate to kill you. They know that Silent Storm is a boy with long light blue hair, so they won't suspect Hurricane Lightning, a boy with short... not-light-blue hair. And also, you don't have to do this if you don't want to. Sunset would probably—"

"No," he snapped. "I'm doing this. If my sister is your second choice, then hell yeah, I'm doing this. You know that if anyone hurts my sister, they shouldn't be surprised to find my shoe in their ass."

Alien shrugged. "Okay then! If you consent. Pick a color, any color."

"You're good at that, I'm not," Storm conceded.

"Alright," Alien began to scan the shelves. "I'm definitely thinking a dark blue, but with a bit of yellow. Maybe like, in the front."

Storm shrugged. He was willing to go along with anything at this point, because he was the one who volunteered. He couldn't exactly back out now.

Alien seemed to sense his anxiety. "Don't worry," she smiled. "I have a vision. Just trust me."

They headed to the same bathroom they had been in on Storm's second day as a Killjoy. There was some serious deja vu going on.

Alien sat Storm on the floor and handed him a towel to put over his shoulders. He noticed then that he was shaking, and mentally kicked himself.

Then Alien pulled a knife from her pocket (he'd had no idea that she had that) and went to work.

Storm wasn't actually paying attention for the most part, due to his dread of the future. He had no idea what was in store for him while he was a double agent. He told himself that it would be awesome, like in an old spy book. But he also knew the risks. If and when the extremists found out that he was actually with Alien, they wouldn't hesitate to kill him.

He didn't have much doubt that Alien knew what she was doing. As she told him, she'd done exactly this to herself when she first got into the Zones. The knife sliced so smoothly through his hair that he could barely feel it, though he knew there was absolute carnage going on. He actually realized what was happening when she was about halfway done, and he was suddenly terrified.

Alien must have seen the look on his face when she moved to do the front, because she burst into laughter. "Dude, you're gonna be okay! It grows back, you know."

He nodded, and she resumed, cutting his fringe right above his eyes. Then she sat back, admiring her handiwork. "Now for the fun part."

The dyeing process went by fairly quickly and resulted in Storm's entire hairline around his face being bright yellow and the rest (which didn't seem like much to him) being a navy blue color. Then he was ordered to put on his—Hurricane's—outfit.

When he finally looked in the bathroom's mirror, he once again looked like a totally different person.

But unlike the last time, he would never become Hurricane Lightning.

Lucas Castellan might be dead, but Silent Storm was alive as could be.


	13. 12.

Storm exited the bathroom and greeted Alien.

She reacted in the same way she did the first time. "Dude, lookin' shiny!"

"This doesn't mean anything," Storm said softly. "I'm still Storm. Hurricane doesn't exist." He said this more for himself than Alien.

"Yeah, I know," she reassured. "As soon as we stop them, you can come home and be yourself again."

"That sounds good," Storm sighed. "What happens now?"

"Well, you're gonna come back to the Nest with me and say goodbye to everyone, obviously, then you can take one of our spare bikes to their base." They began to walk back out of the shop.

"I need a backstory, right?" Storm asked. "If I'm gonna pretend to be one of them."

Alien thought for a second. "How about this: you were originally in the Lobby, but you ran to the desert when your family was killed by BLI. You wanted revenge on the whole city from the start, and were kinda frustrated with the Killjoys for not doing anything. Then you heard about the bombing and went straight there."

"That sounds okay," he agreed as they climbed back into the van. It was now 1200 hours.

Alien continued, "Then you're just gonna go along with everything they say. You know, pretend to hate me, pretend to want to murder the whole city, whatever. Then you'll report back to me once a week. Unless something important happens, then you call me ASAP."

"Got it." As they began to drive, Storm felt the wind on his neck. It was seriously weirding him out. He felt the back of his head and marveled at how short his hair was. His bangs flew into his eyes, and he moved them out of the way. He was going to have to get used to this.

Alien saw what he was doing and laughed. "It takes a bit of getting used to, I know."

They kept talking and laughing like they always did, and Storm realized how much he was going to miss this.

They got back to the Nest without much event. As they got out of the van, Storm realized that this was the last time he'd see his home for a while. The goodbye suddenly became a lot more important.

As usual, the Nest was crowded and no one acknowledged their presence. The two Killjoys made their way to Alien's office, where Cola was waiting.

"Hi, General," Cola greeted Alien. Then he looked at Storm in confusion. "Who's this—oh wait," his eyes widened as he recognized Storm. "Good job, Storm! I didn't even recognize you!"

"That was kinda my goal," he said sheepishly. "I just came by to say goodbye to everyone."

"Ah, okay," Cola said, then he came over and shook Storm's hand. "So long, kid. I hope to see you sooner rather than later. By the way, what's your new name?"

"Hurricane," Storm said. "Hurricane Lightning."

"Awesome." Cola let go of Storm's hand, then gestured to the office's door. "Sunset's in the studio. Don't worry about Val, he's out with his gang right now."

"Okay," he replied. "See you, Cola."

"Bye!" Cola exited the office, leaving Alien and Storm alone.

Alien came over to Storm. "So I guess this is goodbye for now," she sighed. "I know we'll talk a lot, but I'm gonna miss you."

"I'll miss you too, Al," Storm said. Then he held his arms out, and she crushed him in a hug.

"Don't do anything stupid," she laughed, but there was still sadness in her voice. "Do exactly as they say. No matter what it is."

"I'm not making any promises," he joked in response.

Alien stood on her tiptoes and kissed her friend's cheek. "Go do your thing, Stormy," she said. "See ya on the other side."

"Bye, Al." He made his way out of the office sadly. He weaved through the crowd of Killjoys, not getting any second looks from any of them.

He spotted Capricorn across the room then, chatting with Hunter. He went over to them and tapped Capricorn on the shoulder.

He turned around and smiled, but with no recognition in his eyes. "Hey, how can I help you?"

Storm almost laughed. "Cap, it's me. Storm."

Capricorn's eyes furrowed, then his eyes widened and he jumped back. "Holy shit, Storm! I didn't even recognize you! What the hell happened?"

Storm actually laughed that time, and so did Hunter. "I'm actually going undercover into the extremists' base. I had to completely change everything."

"That is so badass!" Capricorn grinned. "You could say you're  _starting again, with a brand new name_." he looked at Hunter and smirked. "Get it?"

"Yeah, you just referenced our own song," Hunter smiled and rolled his eyes. "Dumbass."

Storm continued to laugh. "I do have a new name though," he told them. "It's Hurricane Lightning."

"That's pretty cool," Hunter commented. "When are you coming back?"

"I'm not sure," he said, truthfully. "But hopefully we'll be able to get a ton of new information. We might be able to attack them at some point."

"Al won't want to do that," Capricorn said, "but we'll get a ton of info."

"Anyways, I just came back to say goodbye," Storm told them.

"Oh, okay," Capricorn's smile faded. Then he gave Storm a quick hug. "See ya soon, Storm."

"Have fun out there," Hunter said, half-joking.

"Bye guys," Storm waved, then made his way back into the crowd of Killjoys.

He spotted the studio and made a beeline for it. He stood at the door for a second before opening it.

Sunset was indeed inside, but what surprised Storm was that she was singing. She was strumming an acoustic guitar (which, if you looked closer, happened to be the one that Jet Star had owned) and singing lyrics that were unfamiliar to him.

_"If you save my life,_   
_I'll be the one who drives_   
_you home tonight,_   
_and if I ever let you down,_   
_I'll be the one who drives_   
_you home tonight—"_

She cut herself off when she saw Storm enter. "Uh, hi," she said. "What the hell happened to your hair?"

He was surprised that she recognized him for a second, then he realized that she was his sister and that it was normal. "You're the first person that's recognized me so far," he told her.

"That's not surprising," she laughed, "but I'd know you anywhere. So please, explain this."

"I'm going undercover into the extremists' base," he said, sitting next to her. "They've already seen me, so I had to have an extreme makeover."

"I suppose the new look is Al's doing?" she asked.

"Yup." He laughed. "Only she could ruin my appearance this much. But I suppose it's necessary."

"You have a new name too, right? What is it?"

"Hurricane Lightning."

"You really couldn't get away from the whole 'storm' aesthetic?" she laughed again.

"Again, blame Al, not me!"

They both laughed for a moment, then Sunset started messing with Storm's hair. "This is weird. It hasn't been this short since you were, what, sixteen?"

"I know!" he complained. "I don't like it."

"It looks good though," she admitted. "It kinda makes you look older, too. You could be, like, twenty-five."

"Really?"

"Yeah. It's weird."

"What were you singing?" Storm asked after a moment. "When I first came in."

Sunset blushed. "I've been writing songs, actually. That one's called  _Ambulance_. I know my voice isn't that good—"

"What are you talking about?" Storm cut her off. "It was beautiful. Your voice is amazing!"

"You're just saying that because you're my brother."

"I'm really not," he told her.

She looked at him and smiled. "I'm really gonna miss you, Luca."

He was surprised. She hadn't called him that in years; since the Four died. He smiled anyway. "I'm gonna miss you too, Hails."

She hugged him. He pulled her closer, holding her tightly against his chest. "I love you," she told her brother, the statement slightly muffled by his new leather jacket.

"I love you too."

Sunset pulled back. "Go kick some ass for me," she said, "but not too much."

"I will," Storm laughed. "Bye, Sunset."

"Bye, Storm!" she waved as Storm walked out of the studio, closing the door behind him.

He slowly came to the front of the Nest, then he turned back and looked around. A lot had changed since he first came here. He closed his eyes and relived the memory of Poison leading him through the building, his voice calming Storm's anxiety. He remembered the three months that they had, which were perfect in every way. The eight of them were the happiest they'd ever been.

And with those memories in mind, he headed to the garage, started one of the spare motorcycles, opened the door, and set off.


	14. 13.

Storm wasn't as familiar with motorcycles as he'd like. Alien had taught him how to ride one about a year ago, but he hadn't practiced since. Surprisingly though, he managed to ride one out of the Nest's garage (a feature that was added shortly after people started visiting the Nest regularly) and onto Route Guano without much event. He followed the roads to the coordinates Alien had sent to his communicator.

As he drove, he went over the events of the last two years. Before that first day, March 6th, 2019, he would have never imagined himself in this situation. He was just a kid, a senior in high school, with a slightly annoying little sister and a not-quite-dysfunctional family. The only thing he had to worry about was whether or not he would graduate high school with all his credits.

Now it was June 3rd, 2021, and his world had flipped entirely on its head. He hadn't graduated high school, but that was the least of his worries. His father was dead, he was now living in the radiation-infested desert, and had both met his best friends and seen many of them die. He had met the love of his life, and hadn't even gotten to spend a year with him. He had met his best friend, and she'd suffered the same thing as he did within four days.

Then everything stopped. Alien had been reelected twice, MARS had reaffirmed themselves in the desert, that gang from the Lobby called Palaye Royale had gone on to become Killjoys, but nothing major happened. The army had slowly moved on from the Four, and so had Storm, though he often looked back on his memories with them and relived the sadness he'd felt. Alien hadn't quite moved on from Vendetta yet, but that was to be expected. She lived more in the past than anyone he'd ever known. However, she never cried. He knew she was extremely sad, crushed even, but she never showed it. She told him that she'd built up so many walls over the years that she couldn't bring them down if she tried. The only person who could do that was Vendetta.

Then, a couple of weeks ago, the Ultra Vs, the extremists, and Sonic Revolution had wormed their way into Storm's routine. He was just now getting the time to reflect on how being out here had changed him, and these last two weeks had been a great example. He had friends—no, a family—now, but he was also so loyal to them that he blew up at anything that got in their way or his.

And now it was payback time.

Storm looked into the distance, and he spotted it—a giant, rectangular warehouse, just as Alien had described it to him. The extremists' base.

As he got closer, he psyched himself up for what was about to happen.  _But what if I start actually believing them? What if I end up joining them for real?_ He mentally kicked himself.  _Are you kidding, dumbass? You'd never betray Al._

He wasn't really sure where to go, until he saw a mass of cars surrounding what looked like the building's front entrance. He parked the bike between a few others near the warehouse's wall and hopped off. He was about to head for the entrance when he spotted a familiar shock of bright-white hair and a black denim jacket that he dreaded the sight of.

Val-fucking-Velocity.

He was leaning on the wall, lighting a cigarette. He seemed to be alone. Before thinking about the decision, Storm walked over to him, grabbed both of his shoulders, and pushed him against the wall.

"Hey, what the hell?" Val struggled in Storm's grip. "Who are you?"

"More importantly," Storm started calmly, "What are you doing here, Velocity? It was bad enough, with you insulting my best friend and pulling my sister into your business, but siding with the extremists?"

"Wait." Val looked closer at Storm. "You're Sun's brother. Storm!"

 _Sun?_ "Just answer my question."

"I'm undercover, okay?" he whisper-yelled, pulling out of Storm's grip. "With all this shit happening, I thought, 'if the general's not doing anything about it, then I will.' And I'm the perfect man for the job, 'cause I already know some of their point of view! Except without the killing."

Storm sighed, vexed. "You really think Alien's not doing anything? She sent me in here to do the same exact thing. Now, I think you should get on that bike, ride back over to the Nest, and stay there. And if I hear that you've done anything to hurt Sunset—"

"You really think I'd do that?" Val was getting angry. "She's my best friend, I'd never hurt her! And right now, I think I've been more of a brother to her than you have lately."

Storm was definitely not in the mood for this asshole's argument. "Just fuck off, Velocity," he said, then turned towards the door.

"Hey, kid," Val called to him as he was about to answer. "You don't want to fight? That's fine. But if you walk in there randomly, you're gonna be accused of a lot of shit. Sun would kill me if I let that happen to you, so at least let me show you around. Then I'll get out of your hair." He laughed to himself, then said, "Even though you barely have any left."

"First of all, you're three years old, you can't call me 'kid'," Storm argued. "Second, insulting my hair, really? That's low." He sighed. "But sure. Lead the way, dickhead." He decided then and there that Hurricane would not be an awkward, anxious nerd, but rather a confident almost-asshole-but-not-really. He was going to act badass or die trying.

Val stepped in front of Storm and pulled the door open. "After you, ma'am," he smirked.

Storm flipped him off, then waltzed in like he owned the place.

The inside of the warehouse was darker than the inside of the Nest, and of course, a lot bigger. There were very many shelves and racks scattered around, which, if one looked closer, contained many different types of guns, bombs, and other weapons. It was very crowded, and the people looked a lot more... rebellious than ordinary Killjoys.

"This is the Hub," Val said. "It doesn't get more Riot than this. Oh, and they call themselves the Riot, or Rioters. It would be weird if they just called themselves 'extremists', because obviously, they don't think they're doing anything extreme." He said the last bit quietly into Storm's ear so no one would hear him.

"Cool shit," Storm said, attempting to get into character. "Where do I sign?"

"It's not like that," Val said. "It sounds really ganglike and cliche, but there are a couple of challenges you have to complete to get in."

 _Oh. Well._  "Ok then, what are they?"

Val gritted his teeth. "I'm not supposed to tell you," he told Storm. "We can tell people that we 100% know aren't going to do it, but seeing as you are..."

"Yeah, okay." He had not been prepared for this.  _What am I going to have to do? It's probably going to be bad._

"Velocity! Dude!" a voice said. Storm turned and saw a very violent looking Rioter behind Val. He was gigantic, had jet black hair, was covered in tattoos, and had a heavy Southern accent.

"Hey, Night!" Val bro-hugged the Rioter.

"Who's this kiddo?" he asked, pointing at Storm.

Storm remembered then that Val didn't know that he was using an alias. "Hurricane," he said quickly, remembering to stand confidently. "Hurricane Lightning."

Val looked surprised for a second, then got Storm's drift. "Hurricane here's looking to join the Riot." He turned to Storm. "This is Night Rider. He knows his way around."

Night grinned. "Good shit! It's awesome that we're gettin' so much support. But I always ask this first: are you sure?"

Storm had never heard of a gang member asking first before letting someone join. And he thought about it. _I could die here,_  he reminded himself.  _I could never see Sunset again, I could never see Al again... but I'm doing this for them. Everyone on our side is in serious danger as long as the Riot is active. I have to do this._

"Hell yeah!" Storm grinned.

And then it was done. He was past the point of no return.


	15. 14.

Night lead Storm through the absolute maze that is the Hub. There were so many different types of weapons, most of which were Analog models, so Storm recognized them. There were a lot of things that he didn't recognize, however, and he figured that those were Toxic Revenge's inventions. Val trailed behind, mainly laughing at Storm's new character.

"So this is just the wares section," Night told Storm. "You likin' the digs so far? You've been lookin' at the weapons like you wanna undress 'em for the past half hour."

Storm forced himself to be confident. "Hell yeah. I love this kind of thing. Analogs are my specialty. Well, the programming bit. I know jack-shit about putting them together."

"Really?" Night smiled. "The guy who invented 'em is the O.G., man! Castellan was like, the George Washington of the rebellion!"

Storm's heart skipped a beat when he realized that Night was talking about his father. His  _dead_  father. "Yeah, he's really cool. Is he still alive?" He wanted to know if they knew. He hadn't spoken a word about it since he'd been out here.

"Haven't heard otherwise," Night said, "but there were rumors flyin' around that his kids went missin' a while ago. Most people think that they probably ran out into One and died after a day of radiation, but I think they're still out here. Among us, as 'Joys. I've been trying to spot 'em for a long time. The boy's hair is pretty distinct, I'd know it if I saw it."

Storm almost laughed at the irony.  _Thank Destroya for Al!_ "Well, let me know if you find him, I'd love to meet him!"

"Ya know, a couple years ago, I had suspicions about that one kid that kissed Party Poison on stage. I can't remember his name... Silent somethin'. But he fell off the face of the planet when the Four got ghosted. He probably died or somethin'. If it was him, that would suck."

Storm was very entertained by this guy being so oblivious. "Yeah, it would. Anyways, let's keep going. I wanna see the rest of this place."

Night seemed to get an idea. "Ya know, I should take you to meet Ren. She'd probably like you."

"Who's Ren?"

"Grenade Shock, the leader of this here operation. Polar opposite of that Atomic asshole, thank Destroya. You'll like her."

Storm winced when Night insulted Alien. He figured he would be hearing a lot of those, so he'd have to get used to it. "Wait, I'm gonna get to meet Grenade Shock?" He feigned excitement. "She's so badass! I heard about the bombing on the news, that was literally the coolest thing ever!"

Night grinned. "She's the most badass fifteen-year-old anyone's ever met," he sighed in admiration. "If she wasn't fifteen, I'd go after her in a heartbeat. But I'm twenty-five, so nah." He laughed to himself.

 _Two things: one, she's_ fifteen _? How? Well, the same way that Toxic Revenge is ten, I guess. Two, this dude is attracted to her for some reason and that's serious pedophilia. No thank you._ "Yeah, I get what you mean," Storm said because he couldn't think of anything else.

"How old are you, kid?"

"Twenty-one."

"Cool. It doesn't really matter out here though. Age doesn't define a person. Just look at lil' Revenge. He's a bona fide genius!" Night gestured for Storm to follow him. "C'mon, let's go see the boss."

At this point, Val had wandered off to some unknown location. Storm couldn't help but be suspicious, but he didn't care as much as he usually would. The Killjoy and the Rioter headed to the back of the building, where a door awaited them. Night knocked on the door and shouted, "Ren, you in there? I got a greenie who wants to meet you."

"C'mon in, Night," a muffled voice replied from inside.

Night pushed open the door and stepped in. As he did, he held the door open for Storm to step inside.

The room looked exactly how you'd picture a villain's lair. There was very little lighting in the room, and it came from one of those little spinning disco light thingies, as well as two glowing computer monitors sitting on a desk in the center of the room.

A girl sat at the desk with her feet up on it. She had dark skin and bright pink hair, and grinned when Night walked in. "'Sup, my guy?" She shot finger guns at him, reminding Storm of Alien.

"This here is Hurricane Lightning," Night said, stepping back to let Grenade see Storm. "He wants to join up."

Grenade squinted, looking him over. Then she stood up and walked over to him, getting fairly close. He was shocked at how tall she was. He was about 5'8", and he knew she had to be at least six foot. She stared down at him intensely. "Are you familiar with the Killjoys?" she asked.

Storm blinked, then scoffed. "Well yeah, isn't everyone? I hate those guys. I stayed with them for a bit when I first got out of the city, but I never liked them. Especially that Alien chick."

Grenade's face didn't change. "How did you learn about the Riot?"

"Well, I was listening to the radio one day and heard about the bombing. That was awesome, by the way. I asked my buddy Val Velocity about it, and he said this was the place to go, so here I am."

"How much are you willing to sacrifice to join? Will you do whatever it takes for the good of the Riot?"

Storm smirked. "Pretty much, just as long as you don't boss me around all the time. If you do that, I'm leaving. Got it, sweetheart?"

Night put a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to calm down. But he stood his ground.

Grenade didn't move for a moment, then she smiled. "Defiant. I like that." She held her hand out for him to shake. "I'm Grenade Shock. My friends call me Ren."

Storm shook her hand firmly. "I know. I've heard a lot about you. My name's Hurricane, but you know that."

"I do," she said. Then she let go of his hand and sat back down at her desk. "Anyways, Night will show you to your room now. I hope to see more of you, Hurricane."

"Same to you." Then he pulled the door open and walked out, Night on his heels.


	16. 15.

It had only been a few hours since Storm's departure from the Nest, but Alien already missed him.

He had been her best friend when she didn't have anyone, and now that both him and Rev were gone, she didn't really have anyone.

She tried talking to Sunset for a bit, but then she realized that there was barely anything in common between them. She had no idea how they hadn't talked one-on-one without Storm around for two years, but that's just how it happened. It was a bit like talking to your significant other's parents when they're not around.

She tried to play her guitar to distract herself, but it just reminded her how she didn't have a drummer around to create the basis of the song. She wanted to call him, but she didn't want to risk him being found out by the extremists. So she snapped and called Revolution.

 _"Are you okay, Al?"_  was the first thing she said.  _"You never call me. Is something up?"_

"Can you come over? I need a distraction. No alcohol though, any other distraction."

There was the sound of a motorcycle's engine roaring in the background.  _"I'm already on it. But can you at least tell me what's up?"_

"Storm left on a mission and I miss him." Alien sighed. "It sounds pathetic, I know, but he's going to be gone for a long time. I'm kinda lonely."

 _"Okay. I get it. I'm on my way."_  Then she hung up.

Alien was satisfied knowing that Revolution would be there soon. She pulled up an instrumental track of  _Tom Sawyer_  by Rush and began playing along with it and singing. It was one of her favorite classic songs.

She finished the song, then played through a couple of the Fab Four's songs from before they were called the Fab Four. They'd had a band when they were in high school called My Chemical Romance, and had released three albums. She often practiced her playing speed with their song  _Thank You for the Venom._  She played that one, then another called  _The Sharpest Lives_ , before Revolution arrived.

Alien had just started playing a song called  _Teenagers_  when Rev walked in. She stopped playing, and the first thing that Revolution did was go over to her and hug her. Alien was glad to receive it and reciprocated.

Revolution pulled away and looked concernedly at Alien. "Are you okay, Al?"

She laughed softly. "It feels so pathetic, ya know? I guess I never realized how important Storm was to me until he left." She smiled at her friend. "I'm surprised you're not just saying 'good riddance' and leaving it."

"Well if we're being honest, you're right! I'm glad he's not here to irritate me or be irritated by me. But he's your friend, and you're upset, so I'm here."

"Thanks for that." Alien grinned.

"You're always welcome." Revolution smiled back. "Actually, there's that Mad Gear show I told you about tonight, and I think it'd cheer you up. Palaye's opening."

Alien's face lit up. "Really? Hell yes!"

"Let's do it! Get the van."

🌩

The two Killjoys arrived at the Pit after only about an hour, due to its proximity to the Nest. All other places in the Zones were at least two hours apart, which was why CDs were a necessity for traveling.

A couple-dozen Killjoys were already crowded around the stage; the early bird crowd. There was no one who Alien knew personally, which she was relieved about. So she put on her celebrity façade and went in.

When they reached the edge of the crowd, Revolution—being Revolution—held her hands up and yelled, "Hey, make way for the General! You want her to have the front row, don't you?"

Alien facepalmed, smiling.

The crowd all turned, and they all went into extreme fan mode when they saw Alien. "Oh my Destroya, it's you!" "General, you're my hero!" "Can you sign my ray gun?"

Alien, of course, smiled and waved and signed all of their stuff. She loved doing stuff like this; it made them all so happy.

The two of them managed to make it to the barricade. Then Revolution immediately asked: "Okay, tell me everything. What's going on with Storm?"

So Alien told her everything. "Basically, I heard about the bombing, and I said that our best option would be to send someone in undercover so we could know their movements and hopefully stop them at some point. Storm jumped on the idea and said that he wanted to go. He said that he owed it to me for being an asshole and making you leave. He was really guilty about that. So basically, he got a makeover and a new name, and he went straight in. I should probably call him, actually... nah, I'll do it after the show."

"Wow," Revolution commented. "He was really that guilty, huh? That's crazy."

"Yeah. He really wanted to make up for acting like that to you."

Revolution laughed. "If he thinks that's gonna make me like him, he's wrong."

"Yeah, he knows that," Alien laughed as well. "But he's a really good friend. He really cares; you have to give him that."

The rest of the crowd was pouring into the Pit for the show. There had to be at least a thousand people, maybe even two thousand.  _People must really like this Mad Gear dude._

"When's the show gonna start?" Alien asked.

"Around 1900 hours."

Alien checked her watch. "We have fifteen minutes."

The fifteen minutes passed fairly quickly. Several of the Killjoys standing around Alien introduced themselves to her, claiming to be her biggest fan, and telling her they loved her, and all of the usual crazed fan stuff.

Then the stage lights started moving around, and the chaos began.

"Here they come!" Revolution yelled over the screaming of the crowd.

Alien saw three men walk onto the stage, who she recognized as the three prisoners who were in BLI's high-security prison with her. Remington, Sebastian, and Emerson, though those probably weren't their names anymore.

Emerson sat down at the drum kit, Sebastian picked up his guitar, and Remington took his place at the mic stand. Emerson started the song with his kickdrum, and Sebastian started picking at his guitar.

"What's up, Killjoys?" Remington shouted into the mic, and the crowd went wild. "I'm the Vampire," he said, "that's the Gentleman," he gestured to Sebastian, "and that's the Pirate," he pointed behind him at Emerson. "We're Palaye Royale, and this song's called _Don't Feel Quite Right_. Let's go!"

The song they played was actually  _awesome_. It was unusual, but Alien found herself dancing and jumping up and down with the rest of the crowd. Revolution was screaming the lyrics. The chorus was probably the catchiest thing Alien had ever heard in her life (other than _Na Na Na_ , of course).

_"I don't feel quite right,_   
_there's something in the air tonight,_   
_must be the way she's looking at me,_   
_is there something wrong, is there something wrong with me?"_

On the second chorus, when Remington-Vampire-said _"the way she's looking at me"_ , he looked at Rev and winked at her. She replied with a small wave.

"Dude, what was that?" Alien asked Revolution. "Did they know you'd be here? Do you know them?"

"I've been staying with them for the past week, dumbass!" She replied, giving her friend a small shove.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alien said, grinning. "These guys are awesome!"

They played a couple more songs, entitled  _Live Like We Want To_ ,  _Mr. Doctor Man_ ,  _Rag Doll_ , and  _My Youth Generation_ , which were all amazing as well.

Then they took a pause. "How're you guys doing tonight?" Vampire asked the masses of Killjoys, to which they replied with more screaming. "Ya know, we actually have a special guest in the crowd tonight. She's not doing too well, so would you guys give her some love for me?" The crowd yelled in affirmative. "Give it up for General Alien!"

Alien looked at Revolution, who was grinning like a maniac. "Dude, you are awesome!"

At that, the Killjoys went absolutely batshit. There was nothing but screaming and yelling fans for a solid thirty seconds, until Vampire said, "This next song goes out to her!"

And then, there was the sound of a ray gun firing.

People started screaming (not in a good way), and running away from the source of the noise, which seemed to be about in the middle of the audience. Everyone was rushing to get back to their vehicles and get as far away from this as they could. A few Killjoys took out their guns and started firing at the attacker, but to no avail apparently.

Alien was terrified at that moment. Revolution yelled, "Follow me!" and jumped over the barricade, leaving Alien no choice but to follow. "We need to get backstage, come on!" The two of them bolted to the side of the stage and got behind it quickly.

The Palaye members were all hiding back there. "SIR! General!" Pirate shouted and ran over to them, the other two men following him. "Are you guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're okay," Revolution told them. "What about you guys?"

"What's going on?" Alien had to ask.

"We're fine," Gentleman said. "This was a Grade A assassination attempt. As soon as we mentioned your name, General, all hell broke loose."

"Call me Al," she said, wanting to get to the bottom of this. "It has to be the extremists. It couldn't have been BLI, someone would have noticed them by then. And no one else wants to kill me but the extremists."

"Well right now we have to get out of here," Vampire told them all. "Come on, you two can stay with us!"

The three men, Revolution, and Alien all got into a Honda minivan that was waiting behind the stage and took off as fast as they could.


	17. 16.

Storm looked around what was to be his room in the Hub. Night was there, showing him around.

"There aren't very many of these rooms," Night told him. "Not very many Rioters actually live here. Most of 'em have their own bases. But since you don't have one and there was an extra room, you can stay here."

"Cool," Storm replied. "So, when do I start my initiation?" He figured Hurricane would be eager to start the challenges.

"First thing tomorrow," Night replied.

"Why not tonight?" Storm asked. "It's like, 1900 hours. We have time."

"1900? That's Killjoy time, man! We use normal time here. It's seven o' clock," Night laughed. "But anywho! There's a guy on a special mission right now and we're waitin' for his feedback."

"What's he doing?"

Night leaned in a bit closer. "Not sure if I'm s'posed to be tellin' ya this, but... there's a Mad Gear show tonight, and our guy is checkin' to see if Atomic's out there. He's gonna see if he can git 'er."

Storm's heart rate increased by ten times in the span of five seconds. He got his shit together, then got into character. "Awesome, dude! I can't wait to hear back."

"Me neither!" Night smiled, then gave Storm a slap on the shoulder. "A'right, I'm gonna leave ya be for a lil' bit. Come join the party later on if you wanna!"

"Sure." It was taking all of Storm's willpower not to scream.

The moment Night exited and closed the door behind him, Storm descended into panic. He began to pace the room, running his hands through his (alarmingly short) hair and muttering, "No, no no no, this can't be happening..."

He reached for his belt, grabbed his communicator, and called Alien.

No answer.

He called again, and again, and again, to no avail.

_Please, Destroya, not now, not Al, come on... goddamnit Alien, PICK UP!!_

It had to be at least forty-five minutes before she finally answered.

 _"Storm?"_  She sounded out of breath.

"Al!" Storm gasped. "Destroya, you're alive! Are you okay?"

_"Well, the concert I was at just got shot up, but I'm alright."_

"Oh my god, you were  _there_?!" He shouted, then lowered his voice. "Where are you now? Who's with you?"

_"Dude, calm down. I can tell you're panicking. Listen, I'm with Rev and the Palaye Royale guys. Remember them?"_

He had to think a bit, then the night that he, Ven, and the Four rescued her came into his head. "Yeah. Revolution knows them?"

_"Yeah. We're heading back to their place now. I know you're still shaken up, so I promise I'm safe. Okay?"_

"Okay." Storm let out the breath he was holding.

_"Anyways! What's up with you, Secret Agent Stormy? How was your first day?"_

"Never call me that again," he laughed. "I have a  _ton_ of info."

_"Oh, do tell!"_

"They call themselves the Riot. They all hang out in this giant warehouse they call the Hub, but the organization's kinda like ours, where most of them have separate groups and bases and stuff. Oh! And guess who I found doing 'undercover work'?"

 _"Who?_ "

"Val. Fucking. Velocity."

There was a pause.  _"Wait, wait, wait. Really?_ "

"Yeah!" Storm gave a detailed description of what Val had said. "Then I met this Texan dude named Night who showed me the rest of the way... Oh! And, I met Grenade."

 _"Hold on! You— WHAT?"_  Storm could practically see Alien jumping off of her desk and pacing the room, if she wasn't in a car.

"Yeah!" Storm grinned. "She's actually like, fifteen, but she's over six feet tall. and she asked me some questions, and I answered them, and she was just like, 'I like you.'"

_"Oh man, she's one of those?"_

"Yup." He recounted the rest of the story.

Alien sighed.  _"Dude... shit is going down!"_

Storm laughed. "Hell yeah, it is."

 _"Anyways, I should probably hit the red line,"_  Alien said.  _"These guys are probably getting tired of my blabbering."_

"Okay then. Well, I'll talk to you tomorrow, I guess." Storm had to admit, he already missed her.

_"Yup! And you call me, remember? I don't want to call you when you're in the middle of something and make everyone suspicious."_

"Yeah, I remember," Storm sighed, smiling. "See ya, Al."

_"Bye Stormy!"_

The call ended, and Storm sat on his cot. He was going over the conversation in his head when suddenly, it hit him that he hadn't been able to warn Alien about what was going to happen.

Then there was a knock on the door. Without waiting for Storm to tell him to come in, Night burst into the room and yelled, "He's back! Come on, ya wanna see this, right?"

Storm found it much easier to get into character. "Hell yeah!"

He jumped up and ran after Night, who was already rushing to the front of the building, along with what seemed like hundreds of other Rioters. They were all shouting and crowding around the front doors, where Storm assumed this guy was. Storm jumped in next to Night and tried to look over everyone's heads.

A loud "HEY!" came suddenly from behind them. Everyone's head turned, and saw Grenade standing behind them, holding a bullhorn. "Calm the hell down! If you would all shut up, maybe he'd be able to tell you what happened!" She shoved her way through the crowd to the doors, and handed her bullhorn to a guy with long, bright green hair.

"So I was there, right," the guy began. "I was walkin' around, looking for her the whole time. But then the singer dude goes 'General Atomic Alien's here,' and points right at the front row! So I start goin' there, and I take out my gun, but people start shoving me, so I start shootin'. Everybody runs, and I never saw her! She got away!"

The whole crowd started yelling in denial. Storm joined in with a "She'll never let us stop BLI!" and it got him a couple "Yeah!"s and pats on the back.

"Hey!" Grenade had gotten ahold of the bullhorn again. "We'll keep trying. There's one thing a Rioter never does, and that's give up!"

At that, the crowd yelled in affirmative.

Everyone dispersed eventually, leaving Storm and Night standing there.

Night sighed. "Welp, let's hope for next time."

"Yeah." Storm said, completely in character. "That little shit's elusive as hell. She's gonna be even harder to catch after tonight."

"True!" Night put his face in his hands. "Oh well. I'm pro'lly gonna go to bed now, ya might wanna as well."

"Yup."

"I'll come and get 'cha tomorrow for your first challenge!" Night grinned.

"See you then!" Storm walked back to his room.

He closed the door behind him, then leaned on it and slid down it until he was sitting on the floor. He sighed.

"What have I gotten myself into?"


	18. 17.

_Storm looks around. He is standing in the midst of a battle, between the Killjoys and the Riot. He doesn't know what started the battle, but he figures that a fight of this scale was inevitable in the long run._

_He begins to jog, hoping to find his friends and help them fight the Rioters. He dodges people, each one engaged in combat with another._

_He spots his sister after a while. Sunset is fighting along with everyone else, and she is fighting none other than Grenade Shock. She is holding her own against the Rioter, and he is proud of her._

_She aims to punch her opponent in the neck, but Grenade is too quick. She grabs Sunset's wrist and twists her arm, making her cry out in pain._

_"Sunset!" Storm shouts, and tries to run to her, but for some reason, he can't speed up, no matter how hard he tries._

_Grenade kicks Sunset in the stomach, causing her to grunt and fall to the ground. She holds a foot to Sunset's chest, preventing her from standing back up. She draws her gun and aims it at Sunset's head._

_"No!" Storm cries, and feels a rush of adrenaline. But whatever is holding him back continues, and he can't get to her. "Hailey! NO!"_

_But it's too late. Three shots go off, and his sister is dead._

_But the shots don't sound like shots. They sound like... banging. Maybe even someone knocking._

_"Hurricane..."_

🌩

"Hurricane! Cane, you alive in there?"

Storm jolted awake at the sound of Night Rider's voice. He sat up and looked around frantically, and sighed in relief when he realized that everything he'd just seen was just a nightmare. "Yeah," he panted. "C'mon in."

Night threw the door open, grinning. "Rise an' shine, motherfucker! Up an' at 'em!" He jogged over to Storm's cot and yanked the thin blanket off of him. "Ya ready for your first day, kiddo?"

"Of the challenges?" Storm asked eagerly. He began getting into character.

"What else are ya thinkin', Cane?" Night laughed.

"'Cane'?" Storm asked, swinging his legs over the edge of the cot. "Is that what you're calling me now?"

"Hurricane is kinda a mouthful, amiright?" Night explained. "Do I hafta yank you outta that bed or what? C'mon, Ren and Velocity are waitin'!"

Storm stood up. "Wait, Grenade's coming?" He tried to erase the image of her killing his sister from his mind and sound excited.

"Yup!" Night smiled. "She wants to see how ya do. She likes the look of ya."

Storm smirked, trying to look smug. "Doesn't everyone, though?"

Night clapped him on the shoulder. "That's the spirit! Now grab your gun, kiddo! Let's go!"

Storm did as Night said, and soon they were running out of the Hub towards a black van, where Night said Grenade and Val were. He had no idea why Val was going, but he figured Val had wanted to see him mess something up. And his beliefs were confirmed as soon as he climbed into the back of the van and saw the Ultra V's smug face.

"Hey there, Hurricane," he said, sounding like he was making fun of the name. "You ready for your initiation?"

"Hell yeah," Storm spat back. "I'm joining this army whether you like it or not, Velocity."

"You make me like you more every time I see you, Hurricane," Grenade said from the passenger seat, looking back at Storm.

"Who doesn't like me, honestly?" Storm smirked, and winked at her.

Val was clearly trying to stifle a laugh at Storm's acting. "I don't," he said simply.

"Fuck you," Storm replied.

"Where and when?" Val grinned.

"Okay, save the gay shit for back at the Hub," Grenade laughed. "For now let's focus on the initiation. Hurricane, pay attention."

"I'm all ears, Ren," he said.

She chuckled at him using her nickname. "We're gonna come up on a Drac-infected gas station here in a minute. What you're gonna do is take the bag full of explosives that's in the back of the van and place them all inside the building, without being spotted. And then you have to get out alive. If you make it out, you get to join the Riot. If you don't, well, you don't. Got it?"

 _I knew it would be something like this,_  Storm thought. "Gotcha!"

"Good. We've got a bit to go, so we've got some music for the meantime." She grabbed a CD case, took the CD out, and put it into the CD player. "This is one of my favorite bands."

Storm instantly recognized the opening to the album  _Meteora_  by Linkin Park. He almost laughed, because it was one of Alien's favorite records. He closed his eyes and remembered the first time Alien had shown it to him.

_"Hope you don't mind metal, Stormy," she said._

_"Not at all," he replied. "This song's really good, actually. What's it called?"_

_"_ Don't Stay _," Alien said, then continued lip syncing. Eventually, she was singing and yelling along with every lyric. Storm accompanied her with air drums._

The van stopped after a while, when the album was almost over. In the distance, Storm spotted the gas station.

"Okay," Grenade turned to Storm. "Go around to the back and grab the bag. It'll be right in the front. Then just get back in."

He did as she said. He opened the door and saw a black duffel bag. He slung it over his shoulder and got back into the seat he'd been in. "Are you going to drop me off, then?"

"Yup," Night said. "We'll be keepin' an eye on ya. You're just gonna run in an' kick their asses, right, Cane?"

"Hell yeah!" Storm responded, grinning.

"Here, take this," Grenade said, and handed him a small object. It was a cell phone; a flip phone like the ones used before the war. "You know how to use it, right?"

"'Course," he replied.

"My number's already in there. We'll call if you're in there too long, and if you don't pick up, we'll assume you're dead. Kapeesh?"

"Got it." Storm put the flip phone in his pocket.

"See ya on the other side, Cane," Night said, smiling at Storm from the driver's seat.

"You too."

The van drove by at nearly top speed and only stopped for a millisecond. Storm jumped out, and then the van was gone again.

Storm looked around. The building looked like your average abandoned 7-Eleven, with its windows entirely boarded up. There was a back door right in front of him, which he figured he would enter.

He took the bag off of his shoulder and opened it to see what kind of explosives he was dealing with. He knew his weapons pretty well, and he was excited to see what he would find.

But what he found when he opened the bag were not explosives.

There were only a ton of tangled up wires and cables.

 _Oh no. Oh_ hell _no._


	19. 18.

_These are not explosives,_ Storm thought.  _How the hell am I supposed to do this? I mean, wires are relatively useful, but not now!_

_Well, there's no going back now. I have to go in._

Then he noticed something poking through the wires. He reached into the bag and pulled it out.

_It's a laptop! A laptop that I could connect to another computer with a wire... one of these!_

And just like that, he had a plan.

He opened the door, slid inside, and closed it. It was almost entirely dark inside, except for some black lights on the ceiling. It took a moment for Storm's eyes to adjust. But once they did, he instantly knew where he had to go.

He looked around to see if the coast was clear, then set off. He peeked into each of the rooms along the corridor, until he found the one he was looking for.

There were several computer monitors on a desk, connected to a complicated looking computer system. There was a Draculoid sitting at the desk, but it didn't appear to be doing anything. It was probably just a drone.

Storm slipped into the room quietly, closed the door behind him, and locked it. Then he took out his gun, walked over to the Drac, and shot it in the back of its head.

He shoved it out of the chair and sat down. He powered on the computer system, took out his laptop, and got to work.

Here's the thing about Storm: he was a serious computer nerd. He never showed it, but he was. He had loved computers (especially hacking and anything to do with advanced weaponry) his whole life, and had studied them up until he left the city. Since then, he hadn't had access to any computers to mess with, and no one except Sunset knew of his obsession. But now, this assignment seemed like a breeze.

He plugged the laptop into the computer system in two places to give him maximum access, then the computer monitor brought up some Javascript for him to decode.

 _So what I need to do is get into BLI's interface,_ he thought, talking himself through it _._ He was a bit rusty with his typing, but was typing at unimaginable speeds within a few minutes.

And then he was in.

He stared at a map on the screen, which he quickly realized was a map of all of the known Killjoy locations, as well as BLI territory. Each BLI location could be clicked on, and all of its information would pop up in another tab.

"Holy shit," Storm muttered. "I'm better than I thought!"

He couldn't find the Nest on the map, which he silently thanked Destroya for. It took a couple more minutes of scanning to find the gas station he was in now, on the far edge of Zone Three.

His new flip phone vibrated in his pocket. He quickly pulled it out, flipped it open, and whispered, "Hello?"

 _"What's your status, Hurricane?"_ Grenade's voice asked.

"Well," he began, taking a deep breath. "The bag didn't have explosives in it."

 _"We noticed that too,"_ she sighed. _"You must have grabbed the wrong bag. But you're still in there, so there has to be good news."_

"Yeah, I managed to hack into their computer system," he told her.

 _"Wait, really? I didn't know you could do that!"_ She sounded shocked.

"Well I suppose I can," he replied, still reading over the base's information.

There was a small sound, then a pause, then Night's voice popped up.  _"Cane! I got a job for ya."_

"Let me hear it."

_"Every time BLI takes over a Killjoy base, they know there's a risk o' bein' attacked and the base bein' taken back. So what they do is they put land mines under the buildin' so they can blow 'em up if they need to. I think you'll be able to git to it through the computer."_

"Wait, really?" Storm's eyes widened. "Holy shit!" He immediately started searching for it.

And then he found it: a piece of underlined text labeled "AUTO-DESTRUCT PROGRAM".

 _"We're gonna let you be now, Hurricane,"_ Grenade said, back on the line.  _"Get out of there as soon as you can."_

"Will do." Storm hung up the call and stared at the button.  _Wait,_  he thought,  _I could self destruct any other BLI base in the Zones! I just have to press the button..._

And he did. He cleared Zone Six first, then worked his way in. The closer you were to the city, the more bases there were. He only had to click once, then the dot on the map that represented the base would disappear.  _The best thing about this is that I'm not actually hurting anyone!_ he realized.  _There aren't any innocent people in these bases. It's a win-win! Storm: 1, BLI: 0!_  He cleared Zone Five, then Four, then Three (except for the one he was in, of course).

Then he heard the sound of someone trying to open the door. The knob wiggled, then someone started banging on the door. "Hey, open up!" A monotone voice said.

 _Shit!_  Storm knew what he had to do. He saw the boarded up window across the room, ran over to it, and kicked the boards off of it. Then he clicked on the base he was in on the map, and clicked the "AUTO-DESTRUCT PROGRAM" button.

Then he ran and jumped out the window, rolling on the ground outside and jumping back up. He ran like hell away from the building and pulled out his flip phone. He dialed Grenade.

"Get me the hell out of here," he managed.

Then the building behind him blasted into pieces, throwing him forward. Storm landed on his stomach, ears ringing. His left wrist seared with pain, and he rolled over, clutching it.

He waited for what seemed like an eternity before he caught sight of the black van. He sighed in relief, then closed his eyes.


	20. 19.

Alien, Revolution, and the Palaye guys arrived at their bar at 2300 hours. They would have got there later, but they were speeding through the desert at top speed away from the Pit, in fear of being caught. Fortunately, they made it to safety.

When Palaye were playing a show away from their bar, they turned off all the lights, locked all the doors, and hung a sign on the inside of the door that said "OUT ROCKIN'!" so that it was clear that the bar was closed. But for some reason, there was a giant van parked next to the wall, and a person leaning on it.

"Hey G, someone's here," the Pirate said from the passenger seat.

"Yeah, I can see that, Captain Obvious," the Gentleman replied.

"Wait, someone's here?" the Vampire rolled his eyes. "Can this motherfucker even read?"

"Yes he can," Revolution said. "He's my friend. Killer King."

"Of course it's him," Alien sighed. "It couldn't have been someone who doesn't hate me?"

"He doesn't hate you," Revolution said. "He's just very annoyed by you. He considers you a frenemy."

Alien raised an eyebrow. "Oh really."

They pulled up behind the building and hopped out. Alien soon spotted Killer coming around the corner.

"Are you guys okay?" He asked frantically. "I heard about the shooting."

"We're fine, Killer," Revolution told him.

"We were until you got here, anyway," Alien said, just to rile him up.

Killer rolled his eyes and smiled slightly. "Yeah, me too, believe me." He walked over to the three guys. "Hey, I'm Killer King, I'm a friend of SIR's."

Each of them introduced themselves. After a bit, Revolution suggested that she and Alien go inside, and she graciously accepted. They went in through the back door to the kitchen, where all three boys' sleeping bags were. It looked painfully like the Fab Four's diner, so Alien forced herself to pay no mind.

They emerged into the main room of the bar. It was the same sized room as the diner, but the aesthetic was much darker and consisted mainly of black and red. The wall behind the bar was covered in shelves, which were filled with every variety of alcoholic drink imaginable. There was a small stage in one corner. It kind of reminded her of an old Irish pub she used to go to back in Maryland. She imagined her dad and his band playing on the stage in the corner, and smiled at the thought.

"We're gonna have to stay here for the night," Revolution said. "You might want to call Cola and tell him everything."

"Yeah, I can do that," Alien replied monotonously. She took out her communicator and entered Cola's code.

The call lasted all of five minutes. Cola yelled at Alien for going out without his permission, and she yelled back at him for telling her what to do. Then she told him where she was, and he said that was fine as long as she was with allies. Then it was over, no big deal.

The Palaye guys managed to find three extra sleeping bags in a closet in the back and set them up for Alien, Revolution, and Killer. They all went to sleep without much event, under a general consensus that they needed rest after what had just happened.

🌩

As per the usual, Alien woke up earlier than everyone else. She had been having a very vivid dream. It involved her and Vendetta, but instead of them being Killjoys, they were just normal teenagers living in a pre-Wars world. They had gone to a school dance together and started dating soon after. Revolution was there too, and they'd all been very good friends. They'd called each other by their real names, too. It was the happiest dream she'd had in a very long time. She'd have to write it down.

She sat up slowly, mourning the dream. She checked her watch; it read 09:00. Then she looked around, saw that no one was awake, and decided to roam around. The bar didn't open to the public until 1500 hours, so she was safe from social interaction.

Alien stood up, maneuvered her way through the sleeping bags (it took her a considerable amount of effort not to burst out laughing at Revolution's sleeping face), and quietly slipped through the doors into the main room.

The first thing she spotted was the Gentleman's guitar. She had no idea what kind it was, but it was beautiful. She made a beeline to the stage, picked it up, and sat down. She rummaged in her pockets for her guitar pic, and started strumming. The mindless chords soon turned into the chord pattern from a Coldplay song,  _Major Minus_. Coldplay was kind of a guilty pleasure for her, due to most rock musicians regarding it as "not real rock music" or "a girly band" (she did not like being referred to as girly. She's badass, deal with it). But she loved the band, and always wished that she could have seen them play live before the Wars.

She stopped playing abruptly when she noticed that Revolution had walked in. The other Killjoy held a finger to her lips and walked over to her friend. "You wanna help me with something?" She grinned maniacally.

"Sure..." Alien replied. "What exactly is it that you need help with?"

"Help me carry this," she said, pointing to a snare drum.

She grabbed the drumsticks off the top. Then she took hold of the bottom of the drum, and Alien did the same. They lifted it up. "Where are we taking it?" Alien asked.

"In there," Revolution gestured with her head to the doors leading to the kitchen.

They carried the drum to the kitchen, with Alien still clueless as to why. They set it down.

"Watch this," Revolution whispered.

Then she raised her drumstick and slammed it into the drum, making a loud noise and causing the four guys to jolt awake. She laughed hysterically at their faces.

"What the hell, SIR?" Killer said, rubbing his eyes.

"She does it pretty often," the Vampire said, rolling his eyes.

"Once, she hit it so hard, she broke the stick," the Pirate laughed. "I had to get a new set."

"Did she drag you into this, General?" the Gentleman asked Alien.

"Call me Al," she replied. "And yes, yes she did. It was pretty funny though," she admitted, letting a smile creep onto her face.

The rest of the day went by fairly quickly. Gentleman made them all breakfast (canned beans), then they just kind of hung out and talked. Alien refrained from provoking Killer for the most part, but managed to slip a subtle insult into the conversation here and there. She also managed to keep everyone from drinking at least until the bar opened.

Just before it opened, Pirate suggested that Alien should disguise herself in some way, due to the possibility of Rioters finding their way there. He found a beanie from his immense hat collection, and she hid her very conspicuous hair under it. Vampire found a gray sweatshirt for her to wear instead of her jacket. And that was that. She was definitely not a hat person (unlike Pirate) but she dealt with it. She was  _not_  getting assassinated today, thank you very much.

When the bar finally opened, things started getting chaotic. The regular crowd of day drinkers quickly filled the room and bar, and Gentleman happily served them drinks. Alien considered herself lucky that she didn't drink; she watched everyone slowly get drunk from her vantage point on a barstool. Revolution sat next to her, and the two of them talked and laughed about various things, just as they always did. Palaye started playing after a bit, and it was just as good as the show at the Pit, except without the whole shooting part.

At around 2100 hours, something happened. A fight broke out, right there in front of Alien. It seemed to be between a boy with green hair and a much larger man. There was a bit of yelling, and then suddenly, the boy was on the floor with a bloody nose.

Revolution got up and went to help him. Alien followed, being curious as usual. "Dude, are you okay?"

"I'm fine," the boy slurred, "happens all the time."

Revolution helped him to his feet. Killer seemed to notice what was going on and began lurking nearby. The boy struggled to stand a bit, but he managed. "What was that about?" Revolution asked.

"Well," he began, "this dude was just standin' there, blockin' my view of the band. So I let him know, and he's like 'ya wanna go?' And I'm like 'sure, put 'em up!' And... you know the rest." And then, he promptly passed out in Revolution's arms.

_Well okay then._


	21. 20.

"What the actual hell was that?" Killer asked, getting closer to look at the boy.

"I have no idea," Alien replied. "Let's take him back to the kitchen."

So they did. With Killer's help, they managed to get him onto one of the sleeping bags.

"I wonder if we should wake him up," Killer suggested, poking at the guy's face.

"That's probably not a good idea," Revolution advised.

Then, without hesitation, the boy reached up and punched Killer in the face.

"Oh really?" Killer said. "It's on, kid." Then he punched him right back.

"Dude, stop!" Alien tried.

"Hey," the unknown boy slurred, "is it just me, or does this guy have two foreheads?"

Without a word, Killer punched him again. This time, there was a sickening snap, and Alien knew he'd just broken the boy's nose.

"Ow! What'd you do that for?" He pressed a hand to his nose, which was now bleeding and dripping all over his face. "If I had a dollar for every time I've gotten a nosebleed... well, I'd have about twenty dollars, I think. This was one hell of a twenty dollar nosebleed." He chuckled. "Hey, isn't that a song?"

"Killer, you don't even know this guy! Stop punching him!" Alien yelled.

"He insulted my forehead," Killer defended himself. "Which by the way, is a perfectly normal size!"

"We need a medic," Revolution said. "Killer, go find a medic."

"Oh, fine then!" He shouted, and stormed out of the kitchen.

Alien looked at the boy again. "What's your name? I never asked," she said.

"Raging Rampage, at your service." He held his nose with one hand, and shook Alien's hand with the other. "And what's your name, pretty lady?" He smirked.

 _Oh Destroya. Not now. No_. "Uh, Cyber Crash," she said, coming up with a name on the spot. He could be with the Riot, she couldn't reveal her true identity.

"Hiya, Cyber," he continued to smirk, trying to look sexy, and totally failing due to the blood all over his face. "You single? Maybe we could go for a ride sometime."

"I'm gay," she blurted. She had no idea why her brain came up with that to say, but she went with it. She pointed at Revolution and said, "This is my girlfriend."

Revolution snorted. "Y-yeah! Totally!"

"Damn," Rampage sighed. "Why are all the pretty girls taken or gay? Or both? You're both!"

"I don't know." She was starting to laugh. This guy was clearly shitfaced, and his behavior was hilarious. Revolution was laughing too, but she wasn't trying as hard to hide it. Thankfully, Rampage didn't notice.

Killer burst back through the doors. "Guess who happened to be here?" he said.

Then Dr. Benzedrine's face popped up behind Killer's. "Hey guys—oh man, this guy got hit pretty good." He went over to inspect Rampage.

"This is gonna be one hell of a night," Revolution sighed.

"You betcha," Alien replied.

By hour 0, Benzedrine got Rampage's nose bandaged up, and Rampage passed out where he was (unsurprisingly). Killer ended up just leaving; he said he didn't want this dude insulting him or punching him again. He needed to get his priorities straight. Palaye said they were fine with Rampage staying for the night, so he slept where he'd passed out. Alien and Revolution agreed to take him back with them to the Nest the next morning.

🌩

Alien awoke the next day to a call from Storm. She picked it up eagerly and said, "Stormy! I didn't hear from you yesterday, what's up?"

 _"Well,"_  Storm began,  _"I had my initiation."_  His voice was surprisingly raspy, as if he hadn't talked in days.

"Really? How'd that go? What'd you have to do?"

_"I had to go into a Drac base and blow it up. But I ended up not having explosives. But the good news is that instead, I hacked into its system and self-destructed it..."_

"Wait, really?" Alien smiled.

_"...as well as every other Drac base in Zones Three through Six."_

That statement left Alien speechless.

"Holy. Actual.  _Shit_!" Alien was freaking out. "That is awesome! But, wait, is there bad news?"

 _"I got blown out of the building and got knocked out. I was stuck in the infirmary all day yesterday,"_  Storm reported.  _"And I broke my wrist."_

"Oh man," Alien said. "That sucks."

 _"But overall, it went well. The mission is going as planned, boss."_  She could hear the smile in his voice.

"Good man!" She smiled as well. "Report to me tomorrow, okay?"

_"Will do. See ya, Al."_

"Bye, Stormy!" She ended the call.

"So," Revolution piped up next to Alien. They'd had to share a sleeping bag due to Rampage taking one of them. "How's he doing?"

"Pretty well," Alien told her, and retold his story.

"Wait, he's a tech guy? I had no idea!" Revolution was just as surprised as Alien was.

"Yeah, me either! I mean, he's never really had access to a computer out here, I get that. But having someone like that on the inside would be awesome, I don't know why he didn't tell me."

Revolution shrugged. "Well, I'm gonna conduct the wake-up ceremony. You in?"

After that was done, everyone bid their goodbyes. It had been really awesome to meet the Palaye guys, and Alien told them so. She also said that she'd be at their next show at any cost, which they all advised against, but she didn't care.

They ended up having to drag Rampage out to Alien's van (which the guys picked up for her the night before) due to him being very hungover and still passed out. They just shoved him in the backseat and went on their way.

He woke up about halfway to the Nest, and he woke up fighting. "Where am I? Oh no, take me back, you filthy animals!"

"Calm down, Rampage," Revolution said, turning around. "We're just taking you back to our place for a while. You were drunk off your ass, we couldn't just leave you at the bar."

Rampage seemed to calm down after that. "Oh, okay. So... I can crash there?"

"Yup," Alien replied. "By the way, can I ask you something?"

"Sure. Hit me," he said. "Not literally. You know what I mean."

"Do you know about a group of people called the Riot?"

Rampage scoffed. "Do I! When I first showed up out here, they were the first people I found. Turns out, they've got this thing where you have to kill someone to get in. I said, 'hell to the no!' and got right outta there. Found my bike, found the bar, and I just hung out there. I don't really have a place out here."

"Well, now you do!" Alien smiled at him in the rear-view mirror. "By the way, my name's not Cyber Crash. It's Atomic Alien."

His eyes widened. "Oh shit. You're General Alien? You're not bullshitting me?"

She pulled her beanie off. "No bullshit detected," she smiled.

They continued on towards the Nest, with Rampage still in shock and Revolution dying of laughter.


	22. 21.

Alien, Revolution, and Rampage all sat at one of the tables in the mess hall. They were surrounded by other Killjoys, all talking and laughing with their friends.

"So Rampage," Revolution asked, "what's your story? Do you have one?"

Rampage was still dealing with his insane hangover, so he struggled to try and alleviate the pain in his head. "Nope. You know the basics: I woke up out here with no memory and a motorcycle, found the Riot, didn't wanna get with them, found the bar. This was all, I dunno, a year ago?"

"Wait, the Riot were around a year ago?" Alien cut in.

Rampage gestured vaguely. "They were like, really small; it was just the two kids and a few others. They were like a normal gang, ya know?"

"Geez," Alien muttered.

"And the first thing you did when you got to the bar was get addicted to alcohol?" Revolution asked.

"Yup." He moved to grab his beer bottle, then he remembered that he didn't have one. Both of the other Killjoys had objected profusely to letting him drink. And both of them laughed at that.

"I've made a decision," Alien said. "I'm gonna help you quit."

Rampage chuckled. "Quit drinking? I dunno if I can do that."

"I don't drink," she responded. "If I can do it, you can do it."

Revolution laughed. "Al, you don't drink because you took one sip of beer and hated it." Rampage laughed at that too.

"Hey, guys, at least I'm actually sober! I am at less risk of liver cancer than both of you!"

That just made them laugh more.

"Fine then! Whatever!" Alien said, but she was starting to smile a bit. "We need to get you a cot downstairs."

They led Rampage downstairs to the living quarters. He seemed fascinated that he wouldn't have to sleep on the ground. He found an empty cot against the wall pretty quickly and introduced himself to his neighbors. Revolution talked with them too, and they all seemed to get along pretty well.

Alien wasn't really involved there, so she decided to head back upstairs to her office. Before she entered her office, she scanned her CD collection and grabbed every Linkin Park record she owned. She'd decided to listen to the entire discography to keep herself entertained. She hated being bored, and at the moment, she didn't have anyone to talk to.

As she put  _Hybrid Theory_  into her CD player, it occurred to her to call Storm. Then she realized that he was probably handling Riot business.  _I could call someone else... Cola? No, it'd be weird to hang out with him. He's strictly work-related. Sandman? Maybe Benzedrine? No, I think they're playing a show tonight. How about MARS? I'll call Cap._

She entered Capricorn's code on her communicator and called him, but he didn't pick up.

_Huh. Okay._

_Do I have any books to read?_

She got up and took a look at her relatively small bookshelf. She couldn't find anything that she was in the mood to read, and she didn't have any of the books that she thought would be great to read at the moment.

_Well shit._

She sat down at her desk and sighed. She began mouthing the lyrics to  _One Step Closer_ when she couldn't think of anything else, and was soon singing along. She began to drift into her subconscious, the singing being more muscle memory than anything else. She just zoned out of this world, and into her own.

And therefore, when Storm called her a few minutes later, it scared the living shit out of her.

She quickly ran to turn her music off, slid back over to her desk (almost fell over in the process), and answered the call. "Hey there!"

 _"Hi Al,"_ Storm replied.  _"I have some... news."_

"Like what?" Alien asked, sitting on her desk, panting a bit. "Good news or bad news?"

_"Well, both, in a way."_

"What do you mean?"

 _"So... I woke up in the infirmary, I told you about that,"_ Storm began.  _"Well after that, Grenade took me to her office and told me to get to the BLI database just like I did in the Drac base."_

"Did you?"

Storm paused and took a breath.  _"It took me a while, but, yeah. I got there. Then she told me that no one has ever been able to get to it from a non-BLI computer before... so in her mind, I just became the smartest person to ever live. But that's not the news."_

Alien was getting impatient. "So what's the news? Tell me!"

_"Well, you know Grenade is the leader of the Riot. But under her, there's a council of people, each of which runs a different division, like one person is the head medic, one's the head mechanic, that's Toxic Revenge, of course, et cetera. Well, what happened is... she booted the person who was the head hacker and put me in his place. I'm as close to being the leader of the whole goddamn thing as I'll ever get."_

Alien stopped fidgeting. She stopped panting. She even almost didn't reply. "Holy  _shit_. Oh man. Destroya, how did you even—"

 _"I have no idea!"_ Storm replied, equally as shocked as she was.  _"One minute, I'm just hanging around, learning what I can, and the next, I'm in one of the highest positions in the Riot, and on my second day, no less! My second_ freaking  _day!"_

"Okay," Alien said. "If we talk about this any more, my head's gonna explode. But promise me,  _promise_  that you'll tell me if anything happens. If they plan any attacks, if they even  _mention_  a strike of any kind, let me know. Okay?"

_"Okay, I promise."_

"Thank you." Alien sighed. "There has been one interesting happening of late on this side of the Zones..." She explained how they found Rampage, including all of the gory nosebleed details. "I think he's gonna be a permanent Nest resident, or at least until I get him to quit drinking."

Storm laughed.  _"Good luck with that! He sounds really determined to quit!"_

"Yeah, totally," Alien grinned.

There was a pause on Storm's end. There was a bit of muffled conversation, and then Storm's voice reemerged.  _"Hey, I gotta go. Duty calls."_

"Darn it, Stormy, I miss you!"

_"I miss you too, Al."_

Alien sighed. "Well okay then. See you on the other side."

_"Bye!"_

🌩

Storm ended the call and rushed to Grenade's office, where he'd just been requested to go. He assumed it had something to do with his new position; maybe he was meeting the other higher-ups or doing a special hacking job or something.

The villain's lair-looking office seemed slightly less menacing this time, for some reason. Grenade sat at her desk, looking up at Storm. "Hey, Hurricane. C'mon in."

"Hey." Storm smirked, then sat down in front of the desk. "What's up?"

"Actually, I wanted to ask you something," she said, and leaned forward. "Am I... pushing you too hard? It is only your second day here, and you're already part of the council. Is it too much?"

Storm smiled. "Absolutely not! I couldn't be happier!"

"Are you sure? One hundred percent?" Grenade lowered her voice. "You can tell me, Hurricane. Cane. Can I call you Cane?"

Storm laughed. "Yes, and yes. I'm okay, Ren, I promise."

She sighed, smiled, and leaned back in her chair. "Good. I've been told I work people too hard, you know? I did just kind of throw you in there the other day, and that's what happens to everyone, but then you ended up figuring your own way out, and that was literally  _so_ smart. You're really smart. But anyways, yeah, I knew I had to have you on my team. We're not gonna take down BLI unless I have the best people at my side. And I think that's one of the things Atomic Alien does wrong. She lets all of the groups wander around on their own, and if they get in trouble, she can't do anything about it! I dunno. Sorry if I'm rambling, by the way, I do that a lot."

"It's totally okay," Storm said. "I get what you mean. Some people can't handle it, but trust me, I can."

"The rambling?"

"No, the 'being thrown into it'," Storm laughed again.

Grenade laughed too. They just sat there and laughed, just like two friends.

"Well anyway, that's all I wanted to ask you," Grenade said, still smiling. "You can go back to whatever you were doing."

"Honestly," Storm began, "I'd rather stay here, if that's okay."

"That's fine!"

They stayed there, learning about each other and talking about random things. Storm could not believe what he was doing, but he liked it.  _I'm fraternizing with the enemy... and I don't mind._


	23. 22.

It had now been two months since Hurricane Lightning's initiation into the Riot. He had risen to the position of Grenade Shock's right-hand-man and had helped the army on many missions. He now had access to the whole of Better Living Industries' database and could get to it within a couple of clicks.

And Silent Storm felt trapped. He felt as though he was becoming Hurricane, in a way. It became easier and easier for him to get into his arrogant, cocky, tech genius character, and harder to remember that he was in fact on the opposite side of this war.

He had become very close with Grenade over that time. He could tell that she had begun thinking of him as her friend, maybe even her best friend. And to be totally honest, he found himself feeling this way as well. Aside from her wanting to murder his  _actual_  best friend and wanting the whole of Battery City to die, she was actually a cool person. He hated to admit that.

He had also had the experience of watching Grenade's younger brother, Toxic Revenge, in action. He was the mechanic of the higher-ups, and the kid was a  _genius._ He could build a bomb in five minutes, a missile in half an hour, and a brand new class of weapon in a day. And he was only ten years old. Storm had a conversation with him about Analog weapons, and that instantly became a friendship. They regularly geeked out about whatever new weapon Revenge was making, and he often asked Storm to help him program them, even though he didn't need it.

One day, Storm sat in his room, fiddling with his flip phone. He had been moved to a bigger room, which had a lot more windows and a comfier bed—an  _actual_  bed—than his previous one. He had a desktop computer of his own, which Revenge had helped him build. In his phone, he now had the numbers of over a hundred people and could communicate with any of them in the push of a button. The phones were very different from the simple, walkie-talkie-like communicators the Killjoys used.

He was beginning to worry about becoming Hurricane. He knew if that happened, it would take a really long time to go back to the way he was. There was a short-term solution, however. He dug around in a drawer of the nightstand by his bed, found his old communicator, and called Alien.

She picked up very quickly.  _"Stormy! How ya doing?"_

"Al, it is so good to hear your voice right now," he said truthfully.

_"Wait, what do you mean? Are you okay?"_

He took a deep breath. "So, you know how I invented this character to pretend to be while I'm here? I would just be myself in private, and be Hurricane in public. But here's the thing. I think the line is starting to blur. It's getting harder and harder to get back out of character. I can't tell what's Hurricane and what's me anymore."

There was a pause.  _"Well, first of all, you need to call me more! Second, you need to come back here. Has there been anything that they're planning? Anything at all?"_

"Nothing in particular," he said. "But Grenade keeps pushing me to get into their database and find out what their building's weakness is. So far, I haven't been able to, but even if I do, I won't tell them. But if it happens in front of her... Al, we'll be—"

 _"We're screwed."_ She sighed.  _"If anything happens, anything at all, report to me. Got that?"_

But Storm didn't reply. Because Toxic Revenge stood in the doorway with a shocked look on his face. He had heard every word.

"Cane," he said softly, "who was that? Why were you talking about Ren?"

"Hey, kiddo," Storm said, trying to cover his tracks. "I can explain—"

"No," Revenge said. "You were talking to her, weren't you? Atomic Alien?"

Storm tried to keep his cool. "Look, Revenge. Can we talk for a minute?"

Now, this kid was smart. He knew that Hurricane liked him, that they were friends. There were no traces of malice in the man's eyes. So he went in and sat down next to him.

"I know you're not going to like this," Storm said quietly, "but can you listen to me?"

"Sure," Revenge said tentatively.

"Your sister, well, she's very opinionated. She has all of the best intentions in mind, she just wants the world to be free from BLI." He tried to stifle the shaking in his knees. "But she thinks that to get freedom, she has to kill everyone who lives in Bat City. But here's the thing: all of those people are innocent. They can be saved if we just give them a chance. All we have to do is get rid of BLI itself, not the whole city."

Revenge considered this. "So you're saying she's wrong?"

"No, no, I'm just—"

"No, I get it. I believe you."

 _Wait. He actually believes me?_  "You do?"

"Yeah," he smiled. "You're my friend. But, I love Ren... I don't want to betray her."

 _Oh no. Here we go._  "Revenge, you don't have to do that. All you have to do is keep this a secret. Okay? Then nobody gets hurt, feelings are spared. Okay?"

Revenge hopped off of the bed. "O- okay," he said. "I'm gonna go now. Bye, Cane."

"Bye kiddo."

He closed the door behind him, and Storm sighed in relief.  _Crisis averted._  He picked up his communicator and saw that the call had ended. "Shit," he muttered, and quickly called Alien back.

 _"Storm?"_  She yelled. It sounded like she was in a car.

"Al! I'm fine, it was just a blip."

 _"Wait, seriously?"_ She asked. He could practically hear her rolling her eyes on the other end.  _"Are you sure? So we don't have to come and save your ass?"_

"No," he laughed. "Thanks for doing that, though."

 _"Asshole,"_ Alien laughed.  _"False alarm, y'all! Head back to the Nest."_

Storm heard grumbling in the background. She'd probably gotten Cola, Sunset, Revolution, and Rampage to haul ass to the Hub. "Sorry about that."

 _"No, dude, it's fine,"_ Alien said.  _"We weren't very far out anyway. It's fine."_

Storm laughed. "Well, I should probably get going anyway," he said.

 _"Aww! Really?"_ she complained.

"I'm gonna blow my cover if I keep at this," he said reluctantly. He really didn't want to cut off the conversation.

She sighed.  _"Fine then,"_ she pouted,  _"don't die."_

He laughed. "See you, Al."

_"Bye Stormy!"_

Storm ended the call and hastily slipped the communicator back into his drawer.

Then, as if on cue, Night Rider burst into the room. "Cane! Ya busy?"

Storm's eyes widened. "No, what's up?"

"We've got somethin'!" Night yelled. "We're gonna get into BLI! Come on!"

Storm froze. "Oh! Awesome, I'll be right there!"

"Ya better be quick, kiddo! We're in Ren's office!" He jumped back out of the room.

Storm began to hyperventilate.  _Oh no. Not now, anytime but now._

He quickly grabbed his communicator again. He dialed Alien.

The second she picked up, he whispered into the speaker, "Never mind. Get over here, now."

And then he ended the call. He shoved the communicator back into the drawer and ran out of his room.

_Let's do this._


	24. 23.

"Wait!" Alien yelled into her communicator. "What—"

But the call had already ended.

"Guys," she said to her friends, "we've got to go. Storm's actually in trouble now."

Cola, who was driving, suddenly slammed on the brakes. Everyone lurched forward. Alien, Revolution, and Sunset, who had their seatbelts on, were safe, but Rampage fell forward out of his seat and hit the back of Cola's chair.

"Are you actually serious?" Cola yelled.

"Yes, I am!" Alien yelled right back. "Now turn the goddamn car around!"

Cola begrudgingly did so, and Revolution laughed the whole time.

They were back on course to the Hub. They still had about an hour and a half to drive (at top speed of course), and Alien could already tell they'd be arguing the whole time. "Rev, could you put in a CD or something?" she asked.

"On it," Rev replied, and the next thing everyone knew, they were listening to Mad Gear and Missile Kid. Alien had no idea why Cola was surprised.

Suddenly, she heard an engine revving behind the van. She looked out the back window, and her heart rate increased rapidly.

"BLI found us!"

Cola looked in the rear-view mirror, and his face hardened. "Okay guys, let's do this." Then he grabbed the steering wheel and wrenched the car to the left.

Rampage fell out of his chair again, this time right on top of Alien. "Cola, stop doing that!"

"Why don't you put a seatbelt on, idiot?" Alien said, shoving him off of her lap.

"Here's a question," Cola shouted, "Why did you make me drive when you know I'm the best shot out of all of you?"

"Because you're also the best driver out of all of us," Sunset, who was sitting in the back row of the van, said. She hadn't spoken since Storm called them last.

"True," Cola admitted. "Whatever. I'm gonna try to lose them. Rampage, please put your seatbelt on."

Rampage did as he said (while complaining about how annoying it was), then the car swerved again, this time to the right. The BLI car followed them.

"I'll handle this," Revolution said, rolled down her window, and leaned out of it, pointing her gun at the car. She shot at it recklessly, but still with a one hundred percent hit rate. She was only trying to break the car's windshield, however, but the shots were bouncing off of it harmlessly. Revolution ducked back into the van. "I don't think I'm gonna be able to—"

"Cola, open the sunroof," Alien said. She grabbed her gun and leaned out of the roof, closing one eye and lining her gun up with the driver's side of the windshield. She switched her gun to full power, then fired.

The windshield cracked.

"Yes!" she shouted, then aimed again, at the same spot.

But she didn't have to. The Draculoid in the passenger seat punched through it and started shooting.

Alien quickly crouched down back into the van. "They're shooting!"

"Calm down, Allie, it's probably just a stun gun," Rampage said.

"Fine!" Alien took off her jacket, threw it at Rampage, and stood back up. She started rapid-firing at the car, aiming for the Scarecrow that was driving.

Then the Drac, by sheer luck, shot her in her right forearm, making her drop her gun.

"Ah!" She cried, and dropped back into the van. "That was  _not_  a stun gun!" She climbed back into her seat and looked at the burn. It was huge and red, and already starting to blister. She could move her arm and hand, but she couldn't feel them at all. "Shit. Well, now I'm defenseless. Anyone else wanna try?"

Rampage threw her jacket back at her and grabbed his gun. "I got this." He rolled his window down, aimed, shot once, then leaned back in. "Mission accomplished."

Then there was the unmistakable sound of a car crashing. Alien looked out the back window and saw that the car had indeed crashed on the side of the road. Rampage must have hit one of their tires.

"Dude, how the hell did you do that?" Revolution yelled.

Rampage just winked.

Alien sighed. "You're an asshole, you know that?"

"That's me," he smirked.

Cola directed the van back towards the route to the Hub.

🌩

Storm dove into Grenade's dimly lit office. She, Night, Revenge, and a couple of the other higher-ups were crowded around her computer.

"Cane! Good," Grenade said. "Let's get to work." She pointed to him, then she pointed to her chair, which she was standing behind.

He smirked and sat in the chair. He looked at the computer monitor. It was blank. He knew what they wanted him to do. He pulled up BLI's interface and started working. Typing at a hundred miles per hour, he quickly got to BLI HQ's restricted window. But as usual, it was passcode protected, and none of them had any idea how to crack it.

"Okay," Grenade said. "We just received a text message from one of our operatives containing the code. She got into the Director's office and took it right from under her nose. She didn't make it out." Grenade took a shaky breath. She handed him her flip phone. On its screen were six characters. "Her name was Sugar Bomb. Do this for her."

Storm nodded. He set the phone in front of him, pulled the keyboard into his lap and began. He entered them one at a time: 6, b, f, h, 8, e. Then he hit the enter key.

The screen took a moment to load. In that moment, all of the Rioters in the room prayed for success. Each of them had their own reasons for being there; each had their own explanations for wanting BLI to burn to the ground. Some had lost family, some had lost friends, some had lost their homes, and all had lost their freedom. And now, they had the chance to get revenge.

And the one Killjoy was terrified that maybe, just maybe, they could.

Then, the screen changed. A map of BLI headquarters came up, with places where one could click for more details.

"Yes!" Grenade yelled. She grabbed his shoulders from behind. "You did it! You're in!"

Storm took a second to get his mind back in order, then he said, "Hell yeah I did it! Now let's find a weakness."

He started to click on the individual areas and read them. He saw all of the places where Dracs were stationed around the building (which was a lot), each of the rooms' numbers and purposes, and all of the restricted records, like every Killjoy that BLI has ever identified and/or killed. There was a plethora of information that, once he got back to the Nest, the Killjoys could use.

He began to search specifically for structural weaknesses when he noticed that Grenade was no longer looking over his shoulder. He looked around, and noticed that she wasn't even in the room. Revenge wasn't there either.

As if on cue, the office door opened, and Grenade leaned into the room. "Cane, can you come here for a second?"

"Yeah, sure," Storm said, and followed Grenade out of the room. Revenge slipped past him into the room after he exited.

"So what's going on?" Storm asked.

There was no reply. Grenade walked ahead of him silently.

"Hey, Ren? Is something going on?"

Still no reply.

Storm's heart started to beat faster. He began to anticipate the worst.

Grenade stopped in front of a door that Storm had never entered. She opened the door, turned a light on inside, and gestured for him to go inside.

Storm shook his head. "Ren, what's going—"

She put a hand on his back and shoved him into the room, making him fall on the floor. She went into the room, closed the door behind her, and locked it.

Storm scrambled to his feet. "Grenade, what are you—"

Grenade's fist raised, and she punched him in the face.

He fell to the floor, then he blacked out.


	25. 24.

Storm faded back into consciousness. He tried to move his arm, but he found he couldn't. When he opened his eyes, he saw that he was sitting in a chair with all four of his limbs tied to it. He couldn't move if he tried.

Then he saw a tall figure standing in the corner of the room in front of him. The figure stepped from the shadows, and Storm saw that it was Grenade Shock. But it wasn't the familiar, friendly, smiling face he was familiar with. Her expression was solid stone, and he could clearly see anger behind her eyes. She came closer to him. Then she said to him: "So, you stayed with the Killjoys for... how long?"

"Three months."

"Three months," she replied. "So you know how they communicate? Like we use cell phones, what do they use?"

Storm rolled his eyes. "These ancient walkie-talkie thingies. They're practically useless."

Grenade's face remained blank. "Then you wouldn't keep one when you came here, would you?" Then she pulled her hand from behind her back, showing Storm's communicator in her hand.

 _Oh no. Ohhh shit._ He took a breath and was about to open his mouth when she cut him off.

"You know, I really trusted you," she said, and he could tell that her anger was surfacing. "I questioned you at first because I question everyone. But then you hacked into the BLI interface, and you did it for  _me_ , you didn't object, so I was like, 'Yes, I can trust this guy.' But then, Ven comes and—"

"Ven?" Storm's eyes widened.

Grenade raised an eyebrow. "Revenge. He comes to me and asks me if he can tell me a secret. I'm thinking it's gonna be something stupid, but then he says that Hurricane Lightning,  _my best friend_ , is actually a fucking  _Killjoy_! And I tell him, 'Oh no, you're probably misunderstanding something. I didn't want to believe it, but then he takes me to your room, opens up a drawer, and pulls out this  _fucking_  communicator!  _Killjoy technology_!" Then she got really close to his face. "These past two months have been a lie. All of it was a lie. You were never my friend, you were my enemy!" She raised her voice. "You were my best friend, Cane! I trusted you, I  _loved_ you!"

"No," Storm whispered.

Grenade's eyebrows scrunched. "What did you say?'

"I said,  _no_ ," Storm said sharply. He was damned now, he knew it, so he let his inhibitions go completely.

"No to what?" Grenade was practically screaming now. "What the hell are you—"

"My name is not Hurricane Lightning." He looked her in the eyes. "You were never my friend. You didn't trust me, you didn't love me. You loved the character I created. But he's gone now." He knew he was driving her insane, and he was loving it. "My name is Silent Storm. And I am a Killjoy. My best friend is General Atomic Alien, and my home is the Nest. And you have  _murdered_  hundreds of innocent people, all of which had their whole lives ahead of them, and you  _stole that from them_. And you know what?" He leaned in closer to her face. "When you consider that, there is almost  _nothing_  different between you and BLI."

Grenade raised her fist to punch him again. She was just about to bring it down when she heard gunshots. She knew that she'd specifically ordered her troops not to fire in the Hub because it could set off any of the explosives. And that's exactly what she heard.

She turned to Storm with a shocked look on her face. He was smirking like a criminal who'd just been found "innocent". "You know what that is?" he said. "That's the sound of my friends coming for me. That's them succeeding, and that's you being defeated." He grinned maniacally. "Any questions?"

Then the door burst open. Someone had clearly kicked it in. And when the smoke cleared, Storm saw the last person he'd expected to see.

_Sonic Revolution._

She aimed her gun and shot Grenade in the leg, and once Grenade was down, she switched her gun setting to stun and shot her in the chest. She meant business. She ran over to Storm and started slicing the ropes from his limbs. "How've you been, Storm?" She asked, casually as ever.

"Could have been better, Rev," he said. "But I could not be happier to see your face."

Revolution snorted. "I wish I shared your feelings, you IKEA lookin' ass."

"Hey!" He adjusted his fringe protectively.

She finished cutting the rope from his ankles, and he jumped from the chair. "Right, what are we doing?" he asked.

She looked at him and smiled. He'd never seen her smile before. "We're running."

Then they burst back through the door. The Hub was a warzone. Dozens of Killjoys were shooting at dozens of Rioters, and every once in a while, one would aim for the bombs that surrounded them. It was utterly chaotic, and Storm was in ecstasy.

"Follow me," Revolution said. "We'll go out how I came in. Al and the guys are in the van."

"Wait wait wait," Storm asked, "why is Al in the van? She loves this stuff. Is she okay?"

"She got injured on the way here," Revolution told him. "It was nothing bad, but Cola insisted she stay out of this."

Storm laughed. "What a dick."

They began to run. They dodged battles left and right, closely avoiding getting shot by both sides. They nearly avoided an explosion and an avalanche of supplies and took a detour. Storm was leading the way, bolting for the door as fast as he could. And they almost made it, too.

Then the next thing he knew, he was grabbed by the back of his jacket and pulled into a choke hold. A gun was pressed to his temple, and he struggled to no avail. "How does it feel, traitor?" A familiar Southern accent said into his ear.  _Night._ "How's it feel to get what ya deserve? You betrayed us, kiddo. We're not friends anymore."

Then there was a gunshot, and the arm around Storm's neck went slack. He stood up fully, and Night crumpled to the ground. He looked to his right and saw Revolution, holding her gun. "C'mon, let's get out of here," she said, then she ran. Storm took one last look at Night, then he followed her out the doors.

He spotted the van and was filled with happiness. As they got closer, he saw a small purple-haired figure running towards them with the biggest grin on her face. And at top speed, Alien barreled into Storm, wrapping her arms around his neck. He was barely able to keep his balance, but he managed, lifting her in the air and hugging her tight.

"What's up, Stormy?" she asked, the smile on her face audible in her voice.

"Just happy to see you, Al," he replied, grinning as well.

She let go of him and dropped to the ground. "And now, we have to run!" And she did exactly that. Storm followed her, jumping into the van's backseat. He looked around and saw Cherri Cola in the front seat, Revolution in the passenger seat, Alien in the second row next to him, and—

_Sunset. Oh, Destroya._

Storm dove into the third row, engulfing his sister in a hug to rival all hugs. She wrapped her arms around him as well, burying her face in his leather jacket.

"Oh my god, you're alive," she muttered. "Luca, I missed you so much."

"I missed you too, Hails," he replied, pulling back and kissing her on the forehead.

"Wait," Alien said suddenly, "where's Rampage?"

"Oh no," Revolution said, putting her face in her hands. "I'll go get him—"

"Hold on, there he is," Cola sighed, pointing.

Storm sat back up and looked out the window. A boy who looked about Revolution's age was running toward the van, his arms filled with various small weapons. Every once in a while, he'd lose a grenade or something, but he wouldn't care, due to the fact that he was being chased by several Rioters.

"Oh geez," Alien said. She quickly opened the van's door again, waiting for him to jump in.

And he did just that: he literally ran and jumped into the seat, and closed the door behind him at record speeds. Then he yelled at Cola, "Go, go, go! Step on it!"

Cola stepped on it, and then they were speeding away.

Storm smiled. This was such a familiar situation, and he loved it.

_I'm going home._


	26. 25.

Storm stepped off of the ladder and into the Nest, and he nearly started getting emotional. Everything was just the same as when he had left, and when he had first arrived in the desert.

"Okay guys," Alien addressed the group. "We know a couple of things. Number one: the Riot knows all of BLI HQ's weaknesses now. We kind of cut off their supply, now that they don't have Storm anymore, but they got enough to stage a full-blown attack. Number two: they're gonna do it soon. Tomorrow, if not today. Rampage placed some trackers on their vehicles, and Revolution put one in Grenade Shock's jacket. We should know if their army moves out. When they start going, we have to as well. We have to be prepared. It'll take them at least an hour to prepare everything, but we have to work even harder than them if we want to beat them. Got it?"

There was a chorus of affirmatives.

"Good," she smiled. "Cola, I want you to set up our broadcasting station. I want to send a message to every Killjoy gang in the Zones. I'll call Dr. D so he can transmit my message through his radio station. Rev and Rampage, gather every person you see and grab all of the weapons we have. Load them all onto every vehicle in sight. Sunset, grab all of the medics and help them put their supplies in the vehicles. Let's do this! Go, go go!"

Everyone ran off in different directions, except Storm. "Al, what's my assignment?" he asked. "You never gave me one."

Alien smiled up at him. "Dude, you've been through a lot today. You need to rest."

"But I want to help! I need to help!"

"I know I'm never gonna be able to keep you away from this battle, so at least calm down until then. Okay?"

Storm sighed. "I guess I can't argue with you. What should I do instead?"

Alien grinned. "I thought of that. There's a surprise for you on your cot downstairs. Anyways, I've gotta go handle this, see ya in hell!" She turned around and jogged to her office, waving as she ducked inside.

Storm stood in silence for a moment. He exhaled, then turned around slowly. He was so glad to be back at the Nest.

He was glad to be  _home._

He sighed, then proceeded down the stairs to the living quarters. He maneuvered his way through the cots and past people who were mingling with their cot neighbors until he reached the double cot that he had shared with Poison. There was indeed something on it. He got a bit closer.

It was a pile of clothes, all neatly folded. The first thing he noticed was a light blue denim vest, and underneath that was a familiar gray shirt with the words 'STORM CHASER' emblazoned on the front. He smiled when he realized that Alien kept his old clothes. He noticed that there were two boxes behind the clothes as well. With a closer look, he saw that one was hair bleach, and the other was icy blue hair dye.

 _Oh thank Destroya,_ he thought,  _if I didn't have this, I'd never hear the end of the IKEA jokes from Revolution._

Storm scooped up all of the items and headed straight to the bathrooms adjacent to the quarters. Choosing one at random (gender-assigned bathrooms were pointless at this point) he entered it and closed the door behind him.

Knowing that he was just going to throw away his Hurricane outfit anyway, he didn't bother putting a towel over his shoulders. He just removed his jacket and opened the box with the bleach in it.

 _Okay, so how does this work?_ He turned the box over, but all of the instructions were in Japanese, like a lot of things these days. However, he remembered nearly nothing from his high school Japanese courses.  _Okay then. Well, I have seen Al do this... you know what? I'm just gonna improvise._ He took the small plastic bowl out of the box and mixed the substances from the two tubes together in it. Then he simply scooped it into his hands and shoved it into his hair.

One thing that he was glad about was the fact that his hair had grown about an inch since he left, which made it about the length that Poison's was. He was, of course, aiming for it to be its original length, but that obviously wouldn't happen for a while. He laughed remembering how short Alien's hair used to be; now he couldn't imagine her without the long, purple braid down her back that she'd adopted over the past two years.

Once he felt as though he'd fully massaged the bleach into his hair, he looked on the back of the box for the amount of time he had to leave it in. He did remember the kanji for the numbers one through one hundred, which was good. The box said thirty minutes, so he sat down and waited.

A few minutes later, he heard beeping from his communicator. He picked it up and saw that the message had Alien's code on it, but that it wasn't a personal call. He figured that it was her message to the Killjoys, and answered it.

_"Hello there, Killjoys. This is General Alien. As you may know, there is a group, well, you might even call them an army, that rose up a couple of months ago. They're called the Riot, and have done some pretty terrible things and have killed many innocent people. Now, what I want you to know is that they have obtained a piece of information that is vital to BLI's headquarters, and they are going to attack it very soon. You may be thinking that this is a good thing, however, it is quite the opposite. There are thousands of innocent people in that building as well as BLI operatives, and if the Riot succeeds, they will all die, along with the rest of Battery City. So if you don't want this to happen, I'm asking you to please, gather every weapon and medical supply you own and head to the Nest right now. This signal is encrypted so that only Killjoy communicators can get it, so I'm sending the Nest's coordinates over the signal._ _I'm also sending you the Hub's coordinates and where we want to intercept their path. One more detail: DO NOT KILL ANYONE. It doesn't matter whether they're Rioters or not; do not kill them. Their entire system surrounds killing anyone that's against them, and we won't stoop to their level. Beat them, but don't kill them._ _I'll give you more updates as we get them. Thanks for listening, and I'll see y'all on the other side."_

Storm's thirty minutes were soon over, and he stood up. Then he realized that there wasn't a shower in the bathroom.  _Well shit. What do I... well, I guess I could use the sink._

So he did just that. He bent over the sink, stuck his head under the faucet, turned the water on, and tried his best to get all of the bleach out of his hair. And surprisingly, it worked. Once he was finished, he looked in the mirror and started laughing at how bright blond his hair was. It wasn't the same blond as his natural color, but it was still cool to be blond again, even if it was only for a few minutes.

Then he opened the second box and repeated the process. He mixed the blue dye, put it into his hair, waited, then rinsed it out.

Then he looked in the mirror, and for the first time in months, felt as if he was looking at himself rather than a totally different person. Putting on his old clothes only amplified that feeling.

Just then, there was a knock on the bathroom door. "Storm, are you in there?" It was Alien's voice, slightly muffled by the door.

"Yeah, Al, it's me," he replied.

"Can I come in? Are you finished?"

"Yeah. Come on in."

Alien opened the door. She looked very different from usual, and Storm realized after a moment that it was because she was wearing makeup. She had black eyeliner and glittery blue eyeshadow on, as well as three metallic blue stars painted under one of her eyes. Her hair was out of its braid, which was very unusual. Instead, it was left half down and half up, except for her bangs, which were just swept across her forehead as usual.

Her face lit up when she saw Storm. "I see you found your surprise! You look awesome!"

"Speak for yourself," Storm smiled. "What's all this for?"

"It's called  _war paint_ , Stormy," she smirked. "I'd make you do something with yourself too, but you've already done pretty much everything imaginable. And I don't think you'd ever let me put makeup on you."

"Never gonna happen," he smiled.

Suddenly, a loud fire-alarm-sounding noise pierced the air, emanating from a speaker in the ceiling.  _"Okay Killjoys, the Riot is on the move!"_  Cherri Cola's voice said over a loudspeaker that Storm didn't know existed.  _"It's time to make some noise! Head for the west side of Bat City!"_

Alien grinned at Storm. "Grab your gun, kid! Let's do this!" Then she jumped up and ran out of the bathroom.

Storm picked his gun off the floor and ran out after her.

_Let's do this._


	27. 26.

The quarters had filled to the brim since Storm had been in the bathroom. There was almost no space to move around, especially with the herd of people rushing up the stairs. He noticed that a lot of them were looking at Alien and gasping just like all of her fans did. They all stepped aside for her, of course.

However, that crowd was only about half of the people, so the two of them still had to shove their way through the crowd. Alien took Storm's hand and led him through.

The main room upstairs was just as crowded. Everyone was grabbing their weapons and hurrying to put on their war paint.

"Okay, we're supposed to meet the gang righthere," Alien said, looking around. "There they are!"

Revolution, Rampage, and Cola were all standing together in a corner. Storm and Alien ran over to them. "Hey," they said simultaneously.

"So you ditched the IKEA look, huh?" Revolution snickered.

"What are you, five?" Storm shot back as she laughed.

They all started running toward the garage. It was still cramped in there, as people got into their cars and onto their motorcycles. They raced to the van and jumped in in their usual arrangement; Cola driving, Revolution in shotgun, Alien and Rampage behind them in the second row, and Storm and Sunset in the very back.

"Wait," Storm said, "Where's Sunset?"

"She's with the Vs," Revolution told him.

"Why is she with the Vs?" he shouted.

"I dunno, maybe she wanted to be with her friends?!" Revolution yelled back.

Storm didn't reply. He just sighed.  _Am I losing her?_  he wondered.  _To that asshole, no less?_

People were trying their best to get out of the garage, but it was going very slowly. "Ya know," Rampage commented, "Shouldn't they be letting us out first? You're leading the army."

"It is really crowded in here, General," Cola noticed. "More crowded than usual, and that's saying something."

"Yeah," she replied. "I've actually been thinking about that. If we can find a bigger place, we might actually want to move the Nest. To make more room, I mean."

"That makes sense," Cola said. "But let's think about that after this battle. This is gonna be the fight of our lives."

"Move the Nest?" Rampage joked. "How are we gonna get it out of the ground?"

Revolution facepalmed. "Move the  _people_ , dumbass! Not the building!" The rest of the group shared her feelings.

"It's gonna be hard to find a place that big," Storm said. "I wouldn't be surprised if there isn't anything in the Zones bigger than the Nest."

"I have faith," Alien smiled. "Anyways! Rev, gimme some music. I want something fun to get us riled up for the fight!"

Revolution dug around in the console, then her face lit up. "Danger Days?" she smirked.

Alien grinned from ear to ear. "Hell yeah!"

Storm hadn't heard the Fab Four's album in years; since they died. But now he felt he was ready. He was gonna fight for them today, as he always did. And he sang (and air drummed) along with every song as they flew through the Zones.

🌩

Storm was leaning on his hand, his elbow against the window next to him. He'd been assigned to keep a lookout for any Riot vehicles, and so far, he wasn't seeing any.

The gang was talking with the MARS boys via the car's radio communicator, the Ultra Vs in Alien's communicator, Palaye from Revolution's, and the Suitehearts from Rampage's. They were positioned at different places around the moving mass of vehicles (Al's gang in the front, obviously, MARS on the left flank, Palaye on the right, the Suiteharts taking up the rear, and the Vs in the center) and were reporting on their statuses, as well as just talking.

Storm entertained them all with stories from his time in the Hub, and they loved every bit of it. They all mocked the Riot's beliefs, told stories back and forth, and made fun of Storm's IKEA look (that was obviously Revolution's doing).

But as he stared out the window now, he spotted a dot on the horizon to the van's right. It appeared to be getting closer, and eventually, it took the shape of a van. "Guys," he interrupted the group's conversation, "there's a van over there."

Alien leaned over to her window. "Yup, that is definitely a van. You guys getting this?" she asked the other gangs.

There were several muffled affirmatives from the communicators.

"Storm, do you recognize it?" Cola asked.

Storm squinted. As it got a bit closer, he began to recognize it as the black van that Grenade and Night had used to drop him off at his initiation. "It's Grenade's van," he told them. Several other vehicles came into view behind it. They were going to battle.

"Someone needs to stop them," Rampage said.

"Thanks, Captain Obvious," Revolution said sarcastically.

"Wait, what's that?" Alien pointed out the window. There was a car coming up on their right (that just happened to be missing all four doors and its hood) driving straight towards Grenade's van. There was a kid inside the car, wearing a jacket with streaks of yellow. "I think it's trying to intercept the van!"

The car sped up and passed Alien's van, and soon passed Grenade's as well. The kid inside the car jumped out, then it stopped where it was and smashed directly into the black van. They both exploded on impact.

"Holy shit!" Alien yelled. "Cola, stop the van!"

Cola did so, but he did so by swerving to the side and once again throwing Rampage out of his seat. "Motherfuck—" he yelled.

All of the cars stopped. Every Killjoy vehicle gathered behind Alien's van, and everyone got out. All of the Riot vehicles stopped as well, mainly to keep from ramming into Grenade's van.

Everyone in Alien's van jumped out as fast as they could. Alien pulled down her goggles and grabbed her gun, and everyone else did the same, except there was a variance in what people covered their faces with. The Riot didn't do that, Storm remembered, because they wanted BLI agents to know exactly who was killing them right before they did it.

Grenade jumped out of her van, coughing. Revenge was there too. And surprisingly, so was Night. Storm had thought Revolution killed him, but that didn't make sense, he realized, because killing anyone would make them just like the Riot.

A medic from the Killjoys' side ran over to the kid from the car and got him to stand up and come over to where they all were crowded. Then Storm recognized him: it was Mad Gear. Why he was wearing yellow, Storm had no idea.

Everyone was standing now. People were lining up around Alien's van, as if preparing for war. Which, if you think about it, they were.

And then, Grenade caught Storm's eyes. She scanned his face for a moment, figuring out who he was. And when she did, he knew. Her eyes filled with fire, and her face darkened and contorted with an incomparable amount of anger. Then, without breaking eye contact, she mouthed two words:

_"Kill him."_

Night heard her and took her bullhorn. Then he yelled something into it. Storm couldn't hear it because of the blood roaring in his ears, but as his heart rate rose, he realized what he had just done. He had given orders to attack.

Suddenly, the entire Riot began moving as one. They charged forward, screaming battle cries.

He looked at Alien in a panic. She sensed this and put a hand on his shoulder. "Let's do this," she said, smirking.

And then, in that exact moment, Storm knew what he had to do.

He switched his gun's setting to stun, then he ran forward into the wall of people, and into the fight of his life.


	28. 27.

Storm shoved through the crowd of people, dodging rays and punches left and right. He finally engaged a random person in combat, easily beating them and moving on.

He had no idea where any of his friends were. In all honesty, he was looking for Sunset to see if she was okay. He knew there was a possibility he'd never find her in this horde, but he still tried.

A rush of adrenaline hit him suddenly, and he grinned. He blocked people's parries and dodged shots, knocking people to the ground one after another. He was having fun.

Alien climbed on top of her van to get a good vantage point. From there, she could see the whole battlefield. The Killjoys and Rioters hadn't quite mixed together yet, but several individual fights were going on, and the Killjoys were all holding their own.

The thing about Riot fighting, she knew, was that they fought recklessly, following their instincts rather than logic. While that was good in some situations, actual battle tactics would come in handy.

She switched her gun to stun and fired down from the roof of the van a couple of times at Rioters who tried to climb up. She hoped that the Killjoys had followed her advice about not killing anyone.  _Everyone deserves a second chance,_ she snickered,  _even if Storm doesn't think so._

Revolution and Rampage held their ground, fighting back-to-back. Over the past weeks, they had grown very close and started to act like siblings. One could easily see it, with the amount of "Christmas colors" jokes she pelted him with daily.

Rampage still hadn't ceased his alcoholism, and he hoped the rest of the Nest crew knew that. He also hoped that they knew he was a dumbass and no one could change that. Rev knew that, and he was glad. He was punching every Riot son-of-a-bitch that came his way and having the time of his life doing it.

Revolution was on the defense in this particular battle, whereas Rampage was the offense. She really liked getting up-close in fights, but he enjoyed punching people so much that she just had to let him. And he was doing well, considering how drunk he was.

Cola grabbed his makeshift med bag and ran around, searching for anyone that needed help. He was a bit of a jack-of-all-trades and could fit into any position he was needed in, and right now, the General's gang needed a medic. He was being very defensive and only fought when he had to.

Across the battlefield, the other gangs were engaged in the fight. As hyper as he was, Capricorn was loving this. Hunter fought alongside him, remembering the battles they'd once had, years ago when Myth was still with them. The Battle for Destroya in 2018 was the bloodiest battle in Killjoy history, and he realized that this might just be worse than that.

The three Palaye boys jumped right into the battle. They'd never been in a fight this big before, so they were all a bit freaked out, but at least they weren't arguing. They were fighting together, as brothers, which they were.

The Suitehearts had been through many battles together, so this was nothing new to them. They were very skilled at working as a team, which they knew would help them.

And then there were the Vs. They were very familiar with battles like this, but it was always virtual, and it was against a computer rather than actual people. And Rioters fought much differently than Killjoys.

Volt was doing her job and doing it well. She was perfect for the medic position; she cared about every single person and knew how to work under pressure. Volume was doing just fine as well, running around like a squirrel on 5 Hour Energy and stunning everyone that didn't have their faces covered.

Val was ecstatic. He was filled to the brim with adrenaline and was running around every which way knocking Rioters out left and right. He was used to fighting a computer simulation rather than actual people, so everything they did was completely unpredictable, but so was he. He used all of the cool moves the Exterminators had taught him, as well as a mix of the Killjoy and Riot fighting styles. In the midst of all this, he always kept an eye on Sunset. He cared about her more than anything else, and it would tear him apart to see her hurt.

She didn't want to be protected, though. She could fight really well and was a good shot when it counted. She rushed out into the battle and fought with precision, and won every time.

She punched a guy in the face and knocked him down, then she looked over her shoulder. She spotted a girl running towards her with bright pink hair and a camo jacket. She wasn't wearing a mask, so Sunset knew she was a Rioter. She looked kinda familiar, but the Killjoy couldn't put her finger on where she'd seen her before.

So she jumped into the fight. Punches and kicks were thrown and dodged, each girl holding her own.

Then everything seemed to slow. Sunset made to punch the Rioter in the neck, but instead of blocking the parry, the other girl grabbed Sunset's arm and twisted it, dislocating it. Sunset cried out in pain.

"Sun!" Val shouted, and began to run to her, but someone grabbed his jacket from behind and held him back. "Let me go!"

The rioter kicked Sunset in the stomach, knocking her to the ground. She tried to get back up, but the other girl put a foot on her chest and held her down. She tried to reach for her gun, but she was left-handed, and her left arm was the one that the Rioter dislocated.

"Ah," she cried, struggling. Then she saw Val in the corner of her eye, still struggling to get to her. "Val!" She knew she had to do something, but she couldn't. "Help me! Someone, please!"

Storm was fighting nearby but stopped everything when he heard his sister. Suddenly, he was thrown back into the dream he had in the Hub, of the battle between Sunset and Grenade. Except this time, it was real.

He began to sprint toward her, shoving past people and jumping over bodies. Grenade pulled her gun out of its holster. Sunset began to cry.

Storm knew he was too far away to reach her in time, but he wouldn't let himself believe it. He knew what happened in his dream, and he wouldn't be able to live with himself if that happened.

Suddenly, as Grenade was about to pull the trigger, another figure came into view. Storm saw a flash of green and red running towards the two girls. Then, the figure jumped into the air and flew at Grenade, knocking her over. There was the sound of a blast.

And Raging Rampage crashed to the ground, clutching his side.


	29. 28.

"Ram!" Storm heard someone shout as he continued to run. It was Revolution, who ran over to Rampage's side and knelt next to him.

Storm finally reached the scene. He dove toward his sister, who was still laying on the ground. "Hailey! Hails, are you okay? Please tell me you're okay."

Sunset coughed a couple of times, then she nodded. "I'm okay," she said, her voice cracking. "Can you help me up? I think she broke my arm or something."

Storm lifted her right arm over his shoulder and stood up, helping her to her feet.

Revolution leaned over Rampage and shook him. "Ram, wake up! Goddamnit, talk to me!"

His eyes fluttered open. He was right on the verge of consciousness. "...Lucy..." was all he said.

"What do you mean?" Revolution asked frantically. "Who's Lucy?"

"...I had to save her..." he muttered. Then he exhaled, and his eyes closed.

"No, no no no!" Revolution shouted. "You can't! Come back! Fuck, no, you—" her voice broke, and she let out a sob. She hated crying, but right now it was acceptable.

"Rev!" Alien burst through the wall of people fighting around them. Then she saw Revolution. "What's going on?"

"He sacrificed himself for Sunset," Revolution managed. "Grenade almost shot her but then—" she choked up.

Storm and Sunset walked over to where their group was. "Rampage?" Sunset asked, clearly tearing up. She broke away from Storm and knelt down next to Rampage's body. "I-I'm so sorry."

Then, coughing was heard from a few yards away. Storm's head whipped around as he realized that it was Grenade. She had been knocked out, but she had just reemerged into consciousness.

She stood slowly, still coughing. Her nose dripped blood, and she wiped it with her sleeve. Then her eyes caught Storm's, and her face became that of a tiger that had found its prey. She instantly started running towards him, fire in her eyes.

Storm stood his ground. He wouldn't run anymore. He braced himself for impact and closed his eyes.

"HEY!" A high-pitched voice yelled suddenly. Storm opened his eyes and saw none other than Toxic Revenge standing between him and Grenade. He was keeping her from him, protecting him.

"Ven?" She asked in disbelief. "What are you—"

" _Ven_?" Alien gasped from behind Storm.

"Shut the  _hell_  up!" Grenade yelled at the top of her lungs.

She had intended it specifically for Alien, but all around them, Rioters stopped fighting. They abandoned their fights, and instead crowded around Grenade, standing behind her. They were always loyal to her. The Killjoys responded to this by running in the opposite direction, crowding behind Alien. They were all completely silent.

Grenade huffed, "Ven, I told you to stay in the van—"

"No!" Revenge shouted. "Ren, do you see what you're doing? You just killed that man! And he didn't even want to hurt you. He was protecting his friend, but you killed him anyway!" The boy stepped forward and grabbed his sister's bullhorn from her belt, then guided his words towards the Rioters. "Do any of you know what you're doing? These people don't want to hurt you, and you're murdering them in cold blood! They only want to show you that the morals you live by are wrong. Yes, BLI have hurt and enslaved many innocent people, but that doesn't mean that the innocents deserve to die along with them! They're only under BLI's control, and with time, they can all be set free! I know you want to listen to my sister, and I understand that. But hear me out when I say this: we have been accusing the people in Battery City of crimes that they didn't commit, and eliminating them because of it." He stared into Grenade's eyes. "Would Mom and Dad have wanted that for us, Ren?"

Grenade audibly gasped. She looked like she was about to say something, but she never did.

Revenge took a deep breath. "But the Killjoys realize that everyone deserves a second chance. BLI has shown many times that they don't deserve that. But the people in the city  _can be saved_." He raised something that was in his hands. It was his welding mask, which he put on over his face, then raised to the top of his head. He put the bullhorn to his lips again. "Now tell me," he addressed the mass of people behind Grenade. "Which side are you on?"

Then he did something which shot fear and guilt into the hearts of every Rioter: he walked over to the Killjoys and stood with them, next to Storm.

There were several audible gasps from both sides. No one on the Killjoy side expected this tiny Rioter to speak so eloquently and have such good points, and the Rioters were shocked that this kid, this  _genius_ , would straight up contradict the leader of the entire army, and his sister, no less.

But the one thing that was filling all of the Rioter's minds was this:  _he's right_.

And then, one Rioter stepped forward. Storm recognized her as the Riot's head medic, but he couldn't remember her name. She stepped out of the crowd, hesitated, took a deep breath, then followed Revenge over to the Killjoys' side.

And slowly, all of the other Rioters did the same.

Grenade was sure that she was feeling every single negative emotion in existence at that moment. Her brother had just completely betrayed her, her "best friend" hadn't been her friend at all, and all of the people she thought were on her side just abandoned her. But she also felt guilty. Her parents were killed by BLI, and that was what sparked her hate, but one of their neighbors had saved her and Revenge from the Exterminator that was about to kill them. She realized that everything she had been doing and saying this whole time was exactly like what BLI was preaching to the masses. Her eyes filled. In her entire life, she had never felt more alone.

Grenade collapsed to her knees, sobbing. Revenge ran over to her and knelt down beside her. Then, he put his arms around her neck and, sounding like a child for the first time in years, whispered: "It's okay. I still love you, no matter what."

She threw her arms around him, clutching onto his green hoodie for dear life. He was still there, everything was okay when he was there.

Storm watched and felt so much guilt. He had betrayed this girl, who had thought he was her best friend. He decided, right then and there, that he was going to give her a chance. She might not let him, but he was at least going to try.

Sunset walked up next to her brother and put her arm around him. She had been on the verge of tears this whole time, but she tried to hide it until now. She pulled Storm close to her and hugged him, softly weeping into his denim vest. He held tight to her. He knew they had grown apart for a while, but now he knew he had to hang on to her. After all, she was his family.

And family, whether it's by blood or by choice, is one of the few things that matter most in the world.


	30. 29.

Alien was  _stressed_. After the battle, the Nest had been really overcrowded with ex-Rioters learning how to be Killjoys. The living quarters didn't even have any empty cots anymore; about half of the people living there had to sleep on the floor! And you know what Alien had to do? She had to log every single one of them in her files. Their names, ages, skills, affiliations, et cetera. Yeah, she liked writing, but not like this.

She knew that they had to move the Nest. She'd been thinking about it before, but now she was certain. She sent out Killjoys every day on scouting trips for a new, bigger place for them to stay. Yeah, they could use the Hub, but that had turned into a weapons warehouse over the past week, and really only had the sleeping room for about a hundred people, not the five hundred extra trapped in the Nest.

Another thing that had changed was Alien's office. She was used to having that private space to work, but Cola had insisted they repurpose it, if only temporarily. What they had done was placed a single cot in the corner, and locked Grenade Shock inside.

That, Alien wasn't sure about. Killjoys weren't really the type to keep prisoners, but she had to consider the options. Cola had stopped her from coming in contact with Grenade for fear of her being attacked. That made sense, but she still didn't know why it was her and not Storm that had been prevented from going in there.

Storm not going in with Grenade made sense. He had straight-up betrayed her trust, and she wasn't one to forgive and forget. But Storm was one of those people that hated when someone he cared about (and yes, he cared about her. She was still his friend, Rioter or not) was upset at him. Alien was one of those people too, but she knew there was still a risk, even though Grenade wasn't armed.

Grenade had fallen into a very depressive routine. Her emotions had been reduced to guilt, sadness, or nothing, and her mood only lifted when Revenge came to visit her in her prison cell. She had no desire to see any of the Killjoys except her brother, who she still was having a hard time accepting as a Killjoy. But he was a genius. He knew what he was doing, so of course, she respected his decision.

Hurricane—no, Storm—however, she could not accept. He was a good actor, she'd give him that. But acting like her friend and spying on the Riot from the inside was taking it too far. What really drove in the knife was that his appearance had returned to how it looked before he joined the Riot, confirming his true intentions. She hated him. She wouldn't try to kill him, obviously, because she was unable to. But if she could kill him, she would.

But here's one thing that she would never speak to anyone: she hated that about herself. After the day of the battle, something had changed in her. She realized that everything Revenge had said made sense. And now, she regretted every innocent life she'd ever snuffed out. It was the reason no one trusted her anymore, and it was the reason she was stuck in this cell. She couldn't help thinking that maybe if she apologized, Storm would be friends with her again... but no. That just wasn't something she'd do.

So when Storm knocked on the cell door one day, she was not happy to see him.

Storm unlocked the door and peeked inside, to see Grenade curled in a ball on her cot. "H-hey, Ren," he started.

She whipped her head around and sat on her cot normally. "What do you want?" she asked, ice in her words.

"Um," he stuttered. "Can I... talk to you? Possibly?"

"What is there to talk about?" she sighed. "You said it yourself. We're not friends."

Storm stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He wanted to sit down next to her, but he didn't want to risk anything. "Listen, Ren. I- I'm sorry. I don't know what I was thinking when I said that. I'm not saying I didn't mean it at the time but... I care about you, is what I'm trying to say. I think what I was saying was that I'm not the person you thought I was. I'm not this... cocky asshole that doesn't care what people think of him. I'm not Hurricane."

Her face softened slightly. "So what are you saying?" she asked. "You don't expect me to just say kumbaya and be done with it, do you? I'm not that kind of person."

"No, no," he told her, "that's not what I'm saying at all. I just-" he sighed. "I know I hurt you, and I know you'll never forget that, and you probably won't even forgive me. But I at least wanted to apologize. You are a good friend, Ren, and I miss that friendship we had. I don't want you to hate me forever." he took a deep breath. "I'm sorry."

"It's never going to be like it was, Cane," she said, not noticing that she was using his alias. "You betrayed me and the rest of the Riot. You- You're supposed to be my enemy."

"But the Riot is on the Killjoys' side now. There is no Riot anymore." He felt confident enough to sit next to her now, and he did. She said nothing in response. "There's no reason for us to be enemies. Even Revenge—"

"Don't bring Ven into this!" She exploded. Then she seemed to realize what she'd done and took a deep breath. She hung her head. "Sorry."

"You're good," he told her. "But anyway, you don't have to forgive and forget. But I at least want there to be no hostility between us, okay?" Then he held out his hand, hoping she would shake it in agreement.

She looked up and their eyes met. She hadn't expected the look on his face to be one of friendliness, but there he was, smiling softly at her. His eyes told her that he truly did want to be friends again.

 _So I'm not alone after all_ , she realized.

So then, instead of taking his hand, she hugged him. She threw her arms over his shoulders, despite every part of her mind screaming at her to  _stop, this man is your enemy!_  But he wasn't. He really did care about her.

Storm was shocked. He had expected her to grudgingly take his hand, then ask him to leave. But he was relieved. She was actually willing to forgive him, even if it would take a while. So he put his arms around her, pulling her close.

_Everything's going to be alright._


	31. 30.

_"General, we found something!"_

"Wait, really?" Alien almost yelled into her communicator. "What is it?"

 _"It's a hotel,"_  Volume told her from the other line.  _"Or, at least I think that's what the word for it is, that's what the sign says. It's gigantic! It has five floors, and each one has, I dunno, twenty rooms in it?"_  He asked Volt, who was with him, then he said  _"No, it's actually more like thirty! This is awesome!"_

"Destroya," Alien gasped. "How is that even possible? Yes! Yes, that's it! That's where we're moving!" She jumped from her desk (which had been returned to its rightful position in her office yesterday, after Grenade had been released) and made to run to get Cola. "I'm gonna go tell the others!" Then she ended the call.

🌩

Volume was grinning like a maniac. "We did it, babe! We found the new Nest!"

Volt and Volume crashed together, hugging. When they parted, Volt stood on her toes and kissed Volume. Then she said, "Why don't we go inside and explore?"

They did just that. The lobby was a lot smaller than the Nest's main room, and the ceiling was lower, but it was still fairly large. There was a counter near the front, and a few tables and chairs scattered around. There were several doors and hallways leading to other places, which they were going to go into, until they noticed that there were two people sitting behind the counter, looking terrified.

The two people looked fairly young, and looked almost exactly alike, except one of them had pink hair and the other one had blue. The blue-haired one coughed, then whispered to the other one, "Uh, Vamos? What do we do?"

"I dunno, Vaya," Pink-hair replied. "They don't look BLI... should we say hi?"

At that, Blue-hair hopped over the counter and strutted over to Volt and Volume. "Hey! I'm Vaya, and that's my twin, Vamos, at your service! And what are your names?"

Volt and Volume looked at each other, then turned back to Vaya. "Uh, I'm Volt," she said, then gestured to Volume. "And this is Volume. Do you live here?"

"Hell yeah!" Vamos said, walking over to them. "It's just us though. Oh, and Vinyl."

"We hadn't had company in forever!" Vaya told them.

"It's awesome to see some friendly faces," Vamos agreed, "especially ones with such good fashion sense! I love your hair, by the way," Vamos told Volume.

"Thanks!" Volume grinned. "Well, uh, we don't want to intrude or anything, but... well first I should ask, do you know about the Nest? Or General Alien?"

They both gasped. "Of course we know about her, dummy!" Vaya laughed.

"She is so badass!" Vamos gushed. "I have a poster of her in my room! I've also got a Poison one. He was  _awesome_."

"Our room," Vaya corrected.

"Yeah, whatever," Vamos sighed, annoyed.

"Well," Volt started, "The Nest is running out of space, and we were sent here to scout for places we could expand into. So obviously when we saw this place, we told Alien about it..."

"Wait," Vaya said, "you mean, she's coming here? And  _staying_?"

"Yes! Yes, of course!" Vamos jumped up and down in excitement. "Oh, and we'd love the company! It does get really lonely, Vinyl doesn't talk much."

"We can show you around if you want," Vaya proposed.

"That would be awesome," Volt smiled.

🌩

"So they actually found a place for the Nest to move?" Storm asked in disbelief, back in Alien's office.

"Apparently," Alien grinned. "I'm really excited about that. Volume certainly seemed excited too. I just hope there isn't anyone else living there—well, no one hostile, anyways."

"It's going to take a long time for us to move everything, General," Cola advised. "And some people are going to have to stay here."

"I know," Alien smirked. "I'll let everyone know. Or better yet, I can tell them about the moving bit and you can tell them about the staying bit." She winked, and he rolled his eyes.

Storm laughed. "So when are we gonna start moving?"

"We can start right now if everyone wants to!" Alien told him. "I'm gonna need some time to plan things first, ya know, I actually need to go there, and whatever. But! Yes, anyone can start moving whenever they want."

"Yeah, Ren and Revenge really want to," Storm said. "They obviously aren't used to sleeping in a room that crowded."

Suddenly, Alien's communicator went off. She looked at the code displayed on it. It was unfamiliar. She was confused; she never got calls from codes she didn't know. But it was coming from a Killjoy communicator, so she answered it. "Hello?"

_"General? This is Rev's mom. I'm in the Lobby."_

"Oh, hi!" Alien said. "Uh, what's up?"

_"I'm about to forward you a transmission that I just got. It's not Killjoy tech, so you wouldn't have picked it up. But here's the thing: It didn't come from BLI territory. It came from the Northeast, the part that BLI didn't conquer."_

"Wait, what?" Alien scrunched her eyebrows. "I thought they took over the whole country."

_"So did I until I heard this message. I told Rev, and she said to send it to you, so I did. Anyway, that's it. I just wanted to let you know."_

"Okay, thanks. Bye," Alien ended the call. "Guys, we've got news. There should be a transmission here..." she trailed off as she sat down at her computer.

Storm and Cola stood behind her. There was, in fact, a transmission there, from the same code that had called her. She opened the file and let the audio play.

 _"Hello. If you can hear this, you are in the territory occupied by Better Living Industries."_ There was a lot of static, but the words could be picked out if one focused on the deep male voice that was speaking.

"Hold on..." Alien whispered. "I know that voice..."

_"I'm not sure if you are affiliated with the Industry or not, but I'm sure that if you are, you'll disregard this message. But whether you are or not, I'm here to report on the condition of the United States of America._

_"After the war, as I'm sure you know, the country's economy fell into disrepair and most people were poverty-stricken. So, of course, we didn't have adequate resources to fight a war with. But the Northeast had the highest concentration of Killjoys, and others who were willing to fight. And so, the Industry failed to claim the areas north and east of Ohio, West Virginia, and Virginia._

_"However, the country hasn't been doing well on its own. To deal with the economic crisis, the government established a socialist system, which soon fell into outright communism. People who have worked hard their whole lives for what they have are forced to share it with those who haven't worked a day in their lives. And there's censorship, too. Anything that could possibly offend someone, curse words, harsh opinions, and even tattoos, piercings, and bright hair colors have been prohibited. And one more thing: none of us are allowed to travel over the border into Industry territory. I know it seems ridiculous that anyone would want to do that, but... you'd be surprised._

_"If you're a Killjoy, you're probably furious right now. I get that. But I'm not telling you to come over here and start a revolution. I'd prefer to speak some sense into the officials rather than knocking it into them._

_"But I do have one thing I have to say before I end this message: If you know the whereabouts of an eighteen-year-old girl named Elizabeth O'Reilly, or just El, please show her this message and tell her... tell her that her dad misses her. Very much."_  The man choked up a bit before the message ended.

Alien was hyperventilating.  _This can't be happening. I-I can't believe it!_

"Al, are you okay?" Storm put his hand on Alien's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm great," Alien said. Then she looked up at Storm with a huge grin on her face. " _My dad is_   _alive_!"


	32. Epilogue - The Generals

"So you're leaving?" Storm asked, trying not to sound sad.

Alien sighed. "I wish I could stay, but I have to find my dad. He's the only family I have left."

"It'll take a while to get to the border from here," Cola advised, "and there's probably a lot of radiation outside the Zones. What will you do about that?"

"I'll get a mask from Tommy's," she told him. "And I'll stock up on food there too. We all know I have plenty of carbons."

"What if you get bored?" Storm asked. "That's like a weeklong drive if you stop to sleep."

"I'll get like six audiobooks," Alien laughed. "Maybe I'll get six actual books too! And a notebook for writing and drawing. I'd better make a list." She grabbed a yellow legal pad from inside her desk and began scribbling on it with a purple glitter gel pen.

"And, General," Cola added, "what about the chain of command? You have to appoint someone to lead in your absence until the next election."

Alien looked up. "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Cola, you're in charge."

"I'm actually not sure about that," Cola said.

"Wait, what do you mean?"

Cola sighed. "I mean that, well, I'm not a leader. Well, I can be if you absolutely need me to, but really, my place is at a leader's right hand. I'm not meant to be telling people to do things, I'm meant to be doing those things. Do you see what I'm saying?"

"Actually, I had a feeling you'd say that," Alien smirked. "You're the best right-hand-man anyone could ask for, Cola."

Cola smiled. "Thanks."

Alien walked over to Storm and smiled at him. "You probably know what I'm going to ask you. You are one of the best leaders I know. If I could have given you a position earlier, I would have jumped at the chance. But hey, why not just do it now?" Alien jokingly cleared her throat, then said in a phony proper voice, "Silent Storm, I appoint you to the position of General of the Killjoys!" then she switched back to her normal voice. "Well, unless you don't want to."

Storm chuckled, and for the first time in his life, he didn't second-guess himself when he said, "Of course I want to!"

Alien grinned. "Awesome! By the way, I'm gonna need you to oversee everyone that's moving. Ya know, assign them rooms, answer their questions, et cetera."

Storm shrugged. "Okay then, I'm on it!"

"Right then! I'm probably gonna go make a transmission to everyone about all this," Alien announced. "Cola, with me."

"Got it," Cola replied, and followed her out of the office. 

_"Hey there, rad cats! This is General Alien, as you've probably figured out by now. Anyways! I'm just here to update you on the current happenings over here at the Nest._

_"You probably know by now that we successfully beat the Riot! But since there are so many new 'Joys joining the party, the Nest is getting a bit crowded. So we decided to find a bigger spot, and we did! I'm not gonna give you guys the coordinates just yet, but you'll get 'em from Dr. D soon._

_"Anyways! There have been other recent developments as well. I know some of you guys might not take this very well, but I'll soon be stepping down from my position and leaving the Zones. 'Why', you may be asking. Well, I might just let you know when I get where I'm going._

_"And you also might be wondering who's gonna take my place. Well, I'm glad you asked! If you know me personally, you also know my friend Silent Storm. He's one of the best leaders and all-around good people I know. And, yeah, that's who I picked! If you don't like him, well, at least the election is in a couple of weeks. But hey, if you do like him, let's hope he gets elected!_

_"Anyways, that's pretty much all I've got for you guys, so I guess this is goodbye. Go listen to some good metal for me, okay kiddos? Oh, and eat some Mentos, if you can find them! This is General Alien, signing off. Over and out!"_


	33. Epilogue - The Nest

Moving the Nest was a very chaotic process. Mainly because Alien was attempting to pack everything she needed for her cross-country road trip to find her dad. Storm was left in charge, however, so things weren't as chaotic as they could have been. The hotel was also relatively close to the bunker, so that made it a bit easier as well.

It took him a couple of days to get the hang of the leadership thing. He was thankful to have Alien there to answer his questions, even if it was only until the Nest was finished. He still wasn't ready to face the fact that she was leaving.

Alien said that he'd get his own room since he was the General (at least until the next election, anyway), so he'd picked one for himself: number 105, the closest room to the hotel manager's office, which would become the new General's office. He didn't have any stuff to move into there, but Alien did gift him her computer, her radio, and her CD player.

One thing that really annoyed him was that he had to sort everyone else into a room as well. It would have been easy enough if everyone had just cooperated and just went with what rooms they were assigned, but of course, that didn't happen. It just wasn't in the Killjoys' blood to cooperate. It was as if every other person had specific conditions that they wanted to be met, and if Storm couldn't do that, they would scream at him. He struggled to not tell every single one of them to fuck off, but he managed to keep a cool head and get everything organized.

By the time the Nest was finished moving over, everyone was of the opinion that Storm was an awesome leader and that they would vote for him in the next election.

The Ultra Vs were one of the first gangs to move in. Sunset wanted to share a room with Val, and just to make her happy, Storm let her. They had room 301. The new Ultra Vs all kept their original rooms, and Volt and Volume shared one.

Most of the other Killjoy groups Storm knew had their own places, so there were very few familiar faces moving in. However, he did get to meet Mad Gear properly for the first time when he moved in. He explained that he and Missile Kid (who he refused to believe wasn't real) had been nomads in their half-destroyed car, until the battle with the Riot when they rammed it into Grenade's van, destroying it even more. So, of course, they needed a place to stay.

Saying goodbye to the old Nest was the hardest part for Storm. Seeing all of his friends' personal items gone and replaced with new ones was really strange. He'd never seen the bunker, the most familiar place in the Zones, look so unfamiliar.

The last thing he did was take his box of the Fabulous Four's things from under his bed and carry it out of the bunker. Then, he rode his bike to the nearest mailbox and placed the box of things beside it. He hoped it would make the Four a bit happier in the afterlife. He was finally saying goodbye.

But he kept Poison's mask with him, in the hopes that a part of Poison would stay with him forever.


	34. Epilogue - Alien's Departure

Storm set his backpack of belongings onto the bed (an actual bed!) in his room in the new Nest. He had been helping people move in for about a week, and he was one of the last to move in.  

But Storm couldn't settle down just yet. He had to say goodbye to someone first.

He walked outside of the Nest and saw Alien's van. The General herself was placing one last bag into the passenger seat of the van and chatting with Sunset, Revolution, and Cola.

"Hey," Storm greeted everyone when he arrived.

"Stormy!" Alien grinned at him. "Is everyone settled in okay?"

"Looks like it," Storm reported. "I'm just happy to have my own room, honestly. I missed that."

"How're Grenade and Revenge?"

"They're good, as usual. They're sharing a room; they did that in the Hub too."

Alien sighed. "Anyway guys, it seems as though I have to leave."

"Can't you just invite your dad here?" Revolution joked. "We've got plenty of room!"

"Oh yeah, I'll call him right now!" Alien laughed. "But yeah. Let's get this over with, I guess," she sighed.

Sunset practically jumped onto Alien to hug her. "Thank you so much, for everything!"

"Aww, kid, it's no problem," Alien squeezed her back. "Take care of Storm for me, okay?"

"I will," Sunset laughed, trying to hold back a few tears.

She moved to Cola next. He held a hand out to her, but she shoved it aside and hugged him. He wasn't much of a hugger, but he savored the moment. When she pulled away, he straightened and saluted her. "I'm gonna miss you, General," he smiled.

She laughed and gave him a two-finger salute. "I'll miss you too, Cola."

Alien and Revolution hugged for what felt like a hundred years. When they finally broke apart, Revolution laughed and said, "Roof At Midnight lives on in me!" Storm knew that was Alien, Revolution, and Vendetta's band, so he laughed along.

Alien laughed too. "Yes, yes it does!"

"Oh, I have something for you!" Revolution dug around in her backpack, took something out, and handed it to Alien. It was a blue jacket with black sleeves.

"Oh my god," Alien gasped, "Ven's jacket! I was looking for this everywhere!"

"I know," Revolution smirked. "I found it when I was cleaning out  _your_  office."

Alien laughed, then gave her another hug. "Thank you." She tossed the jacket into the van through the passenger window.

Then she looked at Storm. He smiled awkwardly, then held his arms out for a hug.

She hugged him, and said, "I'm really gonna miss you, Stormy."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Al," he sighed. He pulled away. "I hope you find your dad."

"I will," she smirked. "I have my ways."

"Please tell me you'll radio me every once in a while," Storm laughed. "Although, you're probably gonna forget."

"I won't forget!" she laughed. "But you probably won't have time anyways, 'cause you'll have lots of General duties."

He sighed. "I know, I know. Thanks for that, by the way."

"No problem, General," she teased, giving him a two-finger salute. "Okay then... so this is goodbye, guys."

There was a chorus of various forms of goodbye, all sad.

She started walking to the driver's side of the van. "I'll tell everyone back in the US of A about you guys!"

"You'd better!" Revolution replied, smiling.

Alien got in and waved out the window. "See y'all later!" Then she started the van and hit the gas.

And then she was speeding away, giving them all a peace sign as she left.


End file.
